Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Print media representations of United Kingdom Accident and Emergency treatment targets: winter 2014-15

Grant, Aimee ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7205-5869 and Hoyle, Louise 2017. Print media representations of United Kingdom Accident and Emergency treatment targets: winter 2014-15. Journal of Clinical Nursing 26 (23-24) , pp. 4425-4435. 10.1111/jocn.13772

[thumbnail of A_E targets media representations FINAL FOR OPEN ACCESS.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (539kB) | Preview

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: to undertake an analysis of UK national daily newspaper coverage of accident and emergency treatment targets, in order to understand if the media could be seen to be creating a scandal. Background: Emergency Department treatment targets have become common in developed countries. In the United Kingdom (UK), hospitals are required to treat and discharge patients within four hours, and statistics are published daily. Breaches of targets are regularly reported by the UK print media. Design: exploratory research of tabloid newspaper articles that reported on four-hour treatment targets in the UK during a seven-month period over the winter of 2014-15 (n=1,317). An interpretivist thematic approach was utilised during analysis. Results: The main ‘problem’ identified by newspapers was the failure to meet the target, rather than negative effects on patient care (where they existed). Proposed solutions were diverse. Many articles did not describe who was to blame for the failure. Conclusion: We conclude that the media created a feeling of scandal, and hypothesise that this is related to political reasons and the availability of data on a daily basis. Relevance to clinical practice: it is important for nursing staff to understand the influence of the media on patients and how stories are reported.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Healthcare Sciences
Medicine
Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
R Medicine > RT Nursing
Publisher: Wiley
ISSN: 1365-2702
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 21 February 2017
Date of Acceptance: 16 February 2017
Last Modified: 08 Nov 2023 02:41
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/98436

Citation Data

Cited 3 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics