REFORMING EMERGENCY CARE

Reforming Emergency Care is a policy of the UK government aimed at improving emergency care systems. However, the challenges and problems facing emergency care are common throughout the world. This edition of the journal concentrates on some of the solutions to these challenges. It is clear that there is no magic bullet that will guarantee success. This will require team work, vision, and a large increase in resources to turn around the near melt down in emergency care that is the common experience of those of us working in emergency departments, the ambulance service, and primary care.

We publish a large number of editorials in this issue. UK readers will be only too aware of the great pressures being applied to meet targets for patient treatment. David Lammy, the Parliamentary Undersecretary for Health, points out that the government is reflecting the wishes of patients who demand improvements to our system. Some of the methods for achieving change are outlined in …