Emergency doctors ‘could cut A&E admittance by 31%’

A STUDY by researchers in the Cork University Hospital has shown the attendance of emergency medicine doctors could reduce by as much as a third the need to admit patients to overcrowded A&E units.

A rapid response team, consisting of a specialist emergency medicine registrar and a paramedic was introduced on allotted days to respond to 999 calls in a rapid response vehicle to see if that would improve pre-hospital care and reduce unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits. According to the report on the operation in the Irish Medical Journal, 263 patients were seen on designated days between January 2004 and March 2006. Among the presentations were road traffic accident (23%), collapse (12%), fall (10%) and seizure (8%). The majority of calls were to houses (36%). In 62% of cases, the team arrived in advance of the ambulance and the research found it was possible to safely discharge 31% of patients on scene.

“Patients discharged at the scene had their GP notified or a scheduled ED review appointment made. GPs were given the option to arrange ED review if they felt it warranted having seen the patient — this option was not availed of in any case,” said the authors.