Retrospect matched-cohort study of the clinical outcomes of emergency department patients streamed to acute overflow

Grant ID: EMLE-293R42-2024-WILLIAMS

Project Summary

Overcrowding and access block is a common problem across many Australian Emergency Departments (ED) resulting in poor patient outcomes (Morley et al., 2018). Consequently, patients streamed through the acute part of the ED who ideally require an acute bed are instead moved to temporary triage rooms or wait in the waiting room as Acute Overflow (AO). Monitoring for deterioration for the AO patient is therefore restricted due to lack of appropriate monitoring, staff availability, overcrowding in these areas, and bed capacity potentially resulting in poor patient outcomes. However, there is no study that has examined the impact of acute patients streamed to AO. Here, we aim to conduct a retrospective matched-cohort study, across a six-month period, to examine the clinical sequelae including any adverse events of acute ED patients streamed to AO. The findings from this study will provide insight into the potential impact of streaming patients to the AO, and may provide underlying evidence to advocate for improved monitoring and staffing of this potentially vulnerable and yet often forgotten area of the ED.

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