Management of Heart Attack: 2022 Summary report

This report into the management of heart attack is based on data from the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) and the National Audit of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (NAPCI), both of which are part of the National Cardiac Audit Programme (NCAP). It summarises the care given in over 80,000 cases of heart attack patients admitted to hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from April 2020 to March 2021. Key findings include:

• There was a continued increase in pre-discharge echocardiography, with 77% of patients undergoing echocardiography prior to discharge
• There was a substantial increase in timely angiography for lower risk NSTEMI cases, with 66% of patients receiving an angiogram within the 72-hour quality standard. Though there was large monthly variation associated with pandemic waves and associated ‘lockdowns’, and performance deteriorated with re-start of elective PCI
• The highest recorded levels of reperfusion were sustained for higher risk STEMI patients, with 83% of patients receiving reperfusion treatment (maintained from the previous year).

The report also found that delays to PPCI in STEMI are still increasing, with only 37% of patients now receiving primary PCI within two hours of calling for help and the median ‘Call-To-Balloon’ time increased. As such, it recommends that staff in hospitals where Call-To-Balloon time standards are not being met should work with partner Ambulance Trusts, emergency departments, neighbouring non-interventional hospitals and cardiologists to better understand delays in the provision of primary PCI. This may include making improvements to hospital response to the arrival of a patient but may also focus on ways to improve pre-hospital Call-To-Door times. Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below. Stay-up-to-date: For notifications of future reports from HQIP, sign up to our mailing list.