Plans for an “ambitious” new £110m emergency care centre in Aberdeen have taken another step forward.

The full business case was approved at a meeting of the board of NHS Grampian, and the plan will now be submitted to the Scottish government.

News from BBC Scotland

Accident and emergency treatment as well as the Gmed out-of-hours facility would be among the services at the base.

It is hoped the centre will be operational by December 2012.

Project director Graeme Smith said: “This ambitious project has taken shape as a result of a major effort by a wide range of clinicians, managers and the public over many years.”

Published Date: 18 February 2010

By Lyndsay Moss

Health Correspondent

MORE patients calling an ambulance in Scotland could be treated at home by paramedics rather than going to hospital, a report on the future for the service reveals.

The “strategic vision” for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) over the next five years suggests more conditions could be treated without going to hospital, reducing trips to busy A&E departments.

At present, conditions that can be dealt with by paramedics at home under so-called “see and treat” guidelines are panic attacks, fainting, minor head injuries, fitting and epilepsy, diabetes and asthma. The report also said the service would work with “vulnerable” rural communities to improve the services they received, including more home care.

The SAS said it would develop a new system with NHS 24 and local out-of-hours providers to make sure patients got through to the right service they needed, after its consultation suggested widespread public confusion.

It comes after The Scotsman revealed last week that doctors were increasingly concerned the NHS will not be able to cope with rising demand for emergency out-of-hours services.

The report, which follows a lengthy public consultation, looks at plans to improve the care given to patients from 2010 to 2015.

Demand for ambulances is growing every year. Between 2003-4 and 2008-9, call-outs went up 35 per cent, with a 41 per cent rise out of hours. At the same time, more patients are being treated in Scottish A&Es. This year, it is expected they will deal with more than 1.6 million patients.

Click the link to read more about The “strategic vision” for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS)

While the surgeon’s favourite show tunes blare out from an iPod dock, the patient’s insides will be beamed on to high-definition flatscreen televisions as well as to students around the world as Edinburgh Royal Infirmary meets the Starship Enterprise.

Yesterday, the state-of-the-art Endoalpha operating room was formally opened at the infirmary where pioneering keyhole surgery, in which surgeons perform an operation through tiny incisions on the body, will take place.

The theatre will cater for some of the most complex medical operations and is expected to speed up procedures. The facility will also allow video conferences in which operations are broadcast anywhere in the world, allowing trainee surgeons to learn new techniques.

Read more about the Endoalpha operating theatre at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

09/09/2009

Women risk lives by delaying calling 999

BHF launches 999 Day to raise awareness of heart attack symptoms

A third of women wouldn’t recognise they are suffering a heart attack because they would expect to experience crushing or severe chest pain (33%), a symptom which mainly affects men, according to survey results released by the British Heart Foundation on 999 Day – a drive to raise awareness of the need to call 999 at the first sign of a heart attack.

Worryingly the survey also showed that more than a third of women (35%) wouldn’t call 999 if they were experiencing unusual chest pains for fear of being left red faced if it turned out not to be serious.

The results reflect official figures which confirm that women are more likely to put off dialling 999 waiting on average 24 minutes longer than men after first experiencing heart attack symptoms (2) – dramatically cutting their chances of survival.

Approximately 140 men and 110 women die every day from heart attacks. Around 90,000 people die from heart attacks every year. A third of people die before reaching hospital (3) often because they have waited too long to seek medical help which is why the BHF is reminding people today (09/09/09) to call 999 if they think they are having a heart attack.

Read more HERE

Heart attack video below

Visit British Heart Foundation special 999 Day site for more on the campaign

Watch your own heart attack

Watch Your own Heart Attack

Visit British Heart Foundation special 999 Day site for more on the campaign