HEART ≤3 or LOD HSTnT strategy rules out short and medium term myocardial infarction with ≥99.5% certainty, and short-term MACE with >99% certainty, allowing for early discharge of 53.4% and 36.9% respectively of suspected acute coronary syndrome. Adoption of either strategy has the potential to greatly reduce Emergency Room pressures and minimise follow-up investigations. Very early presenters (<3 h), due to limited numbers, are excluded from these conclusions.

ObjectivesTo identify emergency seizure admissions to hospital and their subsequent access to specialist outpatient services.DesignAlgorithmic analysis of anonymised routine hospital data over 7 years using specialist follow-up by 3 months as the target outcome.PopulationAll adults resident in Merseyside and Cheshire, England.Main OutcomesWhether, and when, access to the specialist advice that might prevent further admissions was offered.Results1.4% of all emergency medical admissions are as a result of seizure. In the following 12 months 35% were readmitted and experienced a mean of 2.3 emergency department visits. Only 27% (48% of those already known to specialists and 13% of those not known) were offered appointments. Subsequent attendance at a specialist clinic is more likely if already known to a clinic, if aged <35 years, if female, or required a longer spell in hospital. Extrapolation from other work suggests 100 000 bed days per annum could be saved.ConclusionsMost seizure admissions are not being referred for the help that could prevent future admissions. The majority of those that are referred are not seen within an appropriate time frame. Our service structures are not providing an optimum service for people with epilepsy.

Summary Background The UK IBD Audit Programme reported improved inpatient care processes for ulcerative colitis (UC) between 2005 and 2013. There are no independent data describing national or institutional trends in patient outcomes over this period. Aim To assess the association between the outcome of emergency admission for UC and year of treatment. Methods Retrospective analysis of hospital administrative data, focused on all emergency admissions to English public hospitals with a discharge diagnosis of UC. We extracted case mix factors (age, sex, co‐morbidity, emergency bed days in last year, deprivation status), outcomes of index admission (death and first surgery), 30‐day emergency readmissions (all‐cause, and selected causes) and outcome of readmission. Results There were 765 deaths and 3837 unplanned first operations in 44 882 emergency admissions, with 5311 emergency readmissions (with a further 171 deaths and 517 first operations). Case mix adjusted odds of death for any given year were 9% lower (OR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.89‐0.94), and that for emergency surgery 3% lower (OR 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95‐0.98) than the preceding year. Results were robust to sensitivity analysis (admissions lasting ≥4 days). There was no reduction in odds for all‐cause readmission, but rates for venous thromboembolism declined significantly. Analysis of institutional‐level metrics across 136 providers showed a stepwise reduction in outliers for mortality and unplanned surgery. Conclusions Risk of death and unplanned surgery for UC patients admitted as emergencies declined consistently, as did unexplained variation between hospitals. Risk of readmission was unchanged (over 1 in 10). Multiple factors are likely to explain these nationwide trends.

Summary Background Variations in emergency care quality for alcohol‐related liver disease (ARLD) have been highlighted. Aim To determine whether introduction of a regional quality improvement (QI) programme was associated with a reduction in potentially avoidable inpatient mortality. Method Retrospective observational cohort study using hospital administrative data spanning a 1‐year period before (2014/2015) and 3 years after a QI initiative at seven acute hospitals in North West England. The intervention included serial audit of a bundle of process metrics. An algorithm was developed to identify index (“first”) emergency admissions for ARLD (n = 3887). We created a standardised mortality ratio (SMR) to compare relative mortality and regression models to examine risk‐adjusted odds of death. Results In 2014/2015, three of seven hospitals had an SMR above the upper control limit (“outliers”). Adjusted odds of death for patients admitted to outlier hospitals was higher than non‐outliers (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.32‐3.44, P = 0.002). Following the QI programme there was a step‐wise reduction in outliers (none in 2017/2018). Odds of death was 67% lower in 2017/2018 compared to 2014/2015 at original outlier hospitals, but unchanged at other hospitals. Process audit performance of outliers was worse than non‐outliers at baseline, but improved after intervention. Conclusions There was a reduction in unexplained variation in hospital mortality following the QI intervention. This challenges the pessimism that is prevalent for achieving better outcomes for patients with ARLD. Notwithstanding the limitations of an uncontrolled observational study, these data provide hope that co‐ordinated efforts to drive adoption of evidence‐based practice can save lives.

Background Major bleeding after acute coronary syndrome predicts a poor outcome but is challenging to define. The choice of antiplatelet influences bleeding risk. Methods and Results Major bleeding, subsequent myocardial infarction (MI), and all‐cause mortality to 1 year were compared in consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome treated with clopidogrel (n=2491 between 2011 and 2013) and ticagrelor (n=2625 between 2012 and 2015) in 5 English hospitals. Clinical outcomes were identified from national hospital episode statistics. Bleeding and MI events were independently adjudicated by 2 experienced clinicians, blinded to drug, sequence, and year. Bleeding events were categorized using Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 3 to 5 and PLATO (Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes) criteria and MI by the Third Universal Definition. Multivariable regression analysis was used to adjust outcomes for case mix. The median age was 68 years and 34% were women. 39% underwent percutaneous coronary intervention and 13% coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Clinical outcome data were 100% complete for bleeding and 99.7% for MI. No statistically significant difference was seen in crude or adjusted major bleeding for ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 3–5, hazard ratio [HR], 1.23; 95% CI, 0.90–1.68; P =0.2, PLATO major adjusted HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.98–1.74; P =0.07) except in the non‐coronary artery bypass graft cohort (n=4464), where bleeding was more frequent with ticagrelor (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 3–5, adjusted HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.09–2.31; P =0.017; and PLATO major HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.18–2.37; P =0.004). There was no difference in crude or adjusted subsequent MI (adjusted HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.87–1.64; P =0.27). Crude mortality was higher in the clopidogrel group but not after adjustment, using either Cox proportional hazards or propensity matched population (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.76–1.10; P =0.21) as was the case for stroke (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.52–1.32; P =0.42). Conclusions This observational study indicates that the apparent benefit of ticagrelor demonstrated in a clinical trial population may not be observed in the broader population encountered in clinical practice. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02484924.