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Mitigating Threats to Quality in Emergency Care Caused By
Crowding:The UK Experience
Suzanne MasonProfessor of Emergency Medicine
Director of Health Services ResearchUniversity of Sheffield
UK
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Facing the future
• The ED should be the hub of the emergency care system
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• The ED should be the hub of the emergency care system• Deficits in primary care or community services will
increase ED workload
• Timely and efficient procedures for admission to hospital are essential to prevent ED overcrowding
• Demands for emergency care are increasing annually and the current emergency care systems are working near the limits of capacity
The Way Ahead, 2008. UK College of Emergency Medicine
Facing the future
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Are UK EDs getting busier?
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
14000000
16000000
18000000
aug07-jul08 aug08-jul09 aug09-jul10
nu
mb
er o
f att
end
ance
s
year
UK HES data 2007-2010
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What is driving rising demand?
User behaviour
• Users inappropriately accessing higher level of care than they need (Lowry 1994; Victor 1999)
• High proportion ED patients arriving by ambulance discharged without referral
(Pennycook 1991; Volans 1998)
• Social mobility, lack of social support
• Complexity of problem• Expectations, convenience• Inappropriate use• Time-sensitive care• Ageing population• Risk aversion
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What is driving rising demand?
Policy• NHS Plan
• Reducing ED waiting times• Reforming Emergency Care
• 4-hour target; Improve access; new ways of working
• Transforming NHS Ambulance Services • mobile health resource;
taking healthcare to patient;• NHS Next stage review
• care nearer patient, quality, changing expectation
• Reduced working hours: European Working Time Directive; GP contract
User behaviour
• Users inappropriately accessing higher level of care than they need (Lowry 1994; Victor 1999)
• High proportion ED patients arriving by ambulance discharged without referral
(Pennycook 1991; Volans 1998)
• Social mobility, lack of social support
• Complexity of problem• Expectations, convenience• Inappropriate use• Time-sensitive care• Ageing population• Risk aversion
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Strategies to manage demand
• Reduce demand:• inappropriate
attenders??
• Alternative services:• NHS Direct, Walk-in
centres, Urgent care centres
• Extending services:• Emergency nurse
practitioners, Emergency care practitioners
11 Apr 2023
© The University of Sheffield
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21 January 2002
A woman of 94 was left unwashed and caked in blood in a London casualty department for almost three days because the hospital had no beds. Rose Addis, a great-grandmother, spent 72 hours at the accident and emergency department of the Whittington Hospital in Highgate after gashing her head in a fall at home.
Abandoned in Casualty
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Risks of target culture• Unintended consequences?
• Neglect
• Harm
• Devalue the customer (patient) by focusing attention on an arbitrary timescale and not outcome
• Devalue local leadership by relying on central control
• Break systems into silos by focusing attention on parts rather than the whole
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Unintended consequencesthe quality metric becomes the focus..Numerous studies
• 2-week bladder cancer referral
• Blick et al, 2010
• 8-minute ambulance response times
• Turner et al, 2006
• Disease-specific measures in US e.g. pneumonia
• Fee, Weber, 2008
• Risk gaming, effort substitution, ‘fixing the figures’
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But it worked!...........
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How were targets met?Munro, Mason, Nicholl. EMJ,Jan 2006; 23: 35 - 39
Increased resources:• Survey of n=111 EDs (56%)• More doctors in ED• 4-hour monitor role in ED• Improved access to hospital beds• More non-clinical staff e.g. porters• More nurses in ED• More senior doctor triage of patients
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SAFETIME studyMason, Weber, Freeman, Coster, Carter
• Design: Mixed methods
• EDs in 15 acute Trusts in England selected for• Range of performance on the target (92-
98%)
• Size (31,000 - 91,000 atts /yr)
• Routine data from 15 EDs
• 32 semi-structured interviews of ED lead clinicians, head nurses, business managers, other staff in 9 EDs
11 Apr 2023
© The University of Sheffield
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Impact on organisations- emptying the corridors of shameWeber, Mason. Annals of emergency medicine, 2011
• Trust ownership
• Change management strategies
• Burden vs. benefits for staff
• Maintaining performance AND safety11 Apr 2023
© The University of Sheffield
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• N=735,588 patient attendances analysed over 4 years
2003 2004 2005 2006
N 159,304 193,250 199,531 183,505
% male 54.1 53.8 53.3 53.0
% <65 yrs 80.8 80.9 81.0 81.5
% by ambulance 23.6 23.4 22.4 20.9
% treated in 4 hrs 83.9 90.2 95.2 96.3
Time to clinician (median) mins (IQR)
44(17-89)
45(20-83)
44(19-80)
51(23-89)
Time in ED (median) mins (IQR)
119(64-200)
107(60-178)
109(62-172)
114(65- 175)
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Time in ED by disposition and year
2003
Total time in department (minutes)
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Per
cen
tag
e o
f a
tten
da
nce
ep
iso
des
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Discharged
Admitted
2004
Total time in department
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Per
cent
age
of a
tten
danc
e ep
isod
es
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Discharged
Admitted
2005
Total time in department (minutes)
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
att
en
da
nce
ep
iso
de
s
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
DischargedAdmitted
2006
Total time in department (minutes)
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Per
cen
tag
e o
f a
tten
da
nce
ep
iso
des
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Discharged
Admitted
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Digit preference bias in the ED
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Impact on patients…..
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Met target
ED Visits
US (NHAMCS)
Admissions
Return visits
Deaths
Disposition
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11 Apr 2023
© The University of Sheffield
Investigations
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Solutions....a leap of faith?
11 Apr 2023
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April 2011: DH Quality Indicators for emergency care
1. Left without being seen2. Unplanned re-attendance rate3. a. Time to full initial assessment
b. Time to clinical decision makerc. Median time in emergency department
4. Patient Survey5. National Clinical Audits6. Audit of NICE guidelines7. Hospital Mortality Rates for Emergencies8. Time to key interventions9. Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions10. Senior Review11. Staff Experience12. Sharing Information
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Solutions.........
11 Apr 2023
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