NSTEMI Pathway Wins “We Are Passionate & Creative In Our Work” Award



At University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust‘s annual "Caring at its Best" Award ceremony on 12 September 2012, my colleague Dr Martin Wiese was chosen as the overall winner in the "We Are Passionate & Creative In Our Work" category for his pioneering work in developing our Emergency Department’s Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) / Chest Pain Pathway.

Martin had already won the Quarter 3 award for this work back in June 2012. At the awards ceremony last night Martin fought off stiff competition from other quarterly award winners to win the overall award for this category.

Over 500 staff, volunteers and supporters of Leicester’s Hospitals gathered at The Athena for the glittering & high-profile awards ceremony. Martin was presented with a plaque and certificate by Simon Cole, the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police.

Well done Martin!

Full press release: Staff recognised for offering patients Caring at its best
Photos and Videos from the event: "Caring at its Best" Award ceremony 2012

“Caring at its Best” Award for Dr Martin Wiese

Caring at its Best Awards – June 2012 – We Are Passionate & Creative In Our Work from Leicester's Hospitals on Vimeo.

Congratulations to my colleague Dr Martin Wiese for winning an award in recognition of his work in establishing our Emergency Department’s new Chest Pain / NSTEMI pathway.

Martin has a passion for creating evidence-based protocols and pathways. His work is recognised at a national level, and he has worked with both the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the College of Emergency Medicine on a number of clinical guidelines.

Martin has helped keep our Emergency Department at the leading edge of Emergency Medicine by producing and implementing a Chest Pain / NSTEMI pathway that not only incorporates the latest ultra-high sensitive Troponin assays (allowing NSTEMI biochemical rule-out at 3 hours, which is great for both patients and the hospital), but also incorporating a whole package of investigations and treatments including GRACE scoring and the latest coronary artery calcium CT scoring techniques.

Please watch the video above, or read this press release for more information.

"Martin has substantially re-organised the way emergency patients with chest pain are managed, making sure they see the right people at the right time during their visit to the Emergency Department. This newly developed system is successful thanks to doctors, nurses and clinicians who have put in both time and dedication and work together to provide high quality patient care."

Consultants in Emergency Medicine (7 posts)

We are currently advertising for 7 Consultants in Emergency Medicine to work at Leicester Royal Infirmary. These are a mix of new and replacement posts. One of the posts has a protected research component.

This is an exciting time to join the consultant team in Leicester. There is an increasing emphasis on consultant-led clinical care – there is already consultant shop-floor cover from 08.00am to 01.00am, 7 days a week. With a projected 19.8 WTE consultants, there is ample scope to develop sub-speciality interests such as Critical Care, Paediatrics, Pre-hospital Care, Acute Medicine & Geriatrics, and in Emergency Medicine research.

“The funded establishment is for 19.8 WTE NHS and academic consultant staff, which allows for flexibility of the rota and roles, including special interest areas. We have national level experts in the fields of acute geriatrics, paediatrics and emergency medicine research. At the current time we are seeking those with added experience in pre-hospital care, acute geriatrics, research and critical care, but our team is big enough to accommodate diversity.”

The advert can be viewed at the PDF link above, on the BMJ website or on NHS Jobs:

The closing date is 3 March 2012. Please get in touch with me if you would like any further information about these posts, or about working in Leicester.

Tranexamic Acid Implementation Guide

Professor Tim Coats has written an excellent site outlining how to implemement the use of tranexamic acid in emergency trauma care.

The CRASH2 trial studied the use of tranexamic acid in the management of injured patients. The results of the trial were published in the Lancet in 2010, with a follow up paper in the Lancet in May 2011. The trial showed that treatment with tranexamic acid reduced patient mortality from 16% to 14.5%, thus preventing 9% of all trauma deaths. The number needed to treat was 67 – in other words one life was saved for every 67 patients treated. This means that the treatment cost of saving a life is about £200. The potential number of lives that we could save in the UK is about 500 per year.

Some Emergency Departments use tranexamic acid only as part of their Massive Transfusion Protocol – I was interested to learn that this restriction is invalid.

The Tranexamic Acid Implementation Guide covers the following areas:

  • What is the evidence for the use of TXA?
  • What is the indication for TXA use?
  • How is tranexamic acid given?
  • How soon should it be given?
  • How is the implementation of the CRASH2 results going?
  • Are there any mistakes being made in implementation?
  • How can I implement Tranexamic Acid in my Emergency Department?
  • How do I ensure that Tranexamic Acid is available?
  • How do I train my staff?
  • How do I audit tranexamic acid usage?
  • How important is the implementation of CRASH2?
  • What are people saying about Tranexamic Acid use in trauma patients?

“Research Registrar in Emergency Medicine” post

We are currently advertising for a "Research Registrar in Emergency Medicine" vacancy.

This is a great opportunity for an Emergency Medicine trainee to gain experience at one of the UK’s busiest Emergency Departments, while working towards an MD degree, supervised by a Professor of Emergency Medicine. It would be a great opportunity for a trainee wishing to develop an academic interest.

The closing date for applications is 1st January 2012.

Further information from http://bit.ly/research-registrar