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INTRODUCTION: To decrease waiting times within accident and emergency (A 7117 (51.1%) in the first five week period and 6801 (49.9%) in the second five week period when a separate stream was operational. Recorded time to see a doctor ranged from 0-850 minutes. Comparison of the two five week periods demonstrated that the proportion of patients waiting less than 30 and less than 60 minutes both improved (p<0.0001). The relative risk of waiting more than one hour decreased by 32%. The improvements in waiting times were not at the expense of patients with more urgent needs. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of a separate stream for minor injuries can produce an improvement in the number of trauma patients waiting over an hour of about 30%. If this is associated with an increase in consultant presence on the shop floor it may be possible to achieve a 50% improvement. It is recommended that departments use a separate stream for minor injuries to decrease the number of patients enduring long waits in A&E departments.
Matthew W Cooke (Tue,) studied this question.