The Impact of Prolonged Emergency Department Waiting Time on Elective Surgical Activities: A Cross‐Sectional Observational Study in National Health Service (NHS) Scotland
Cross-sectional study finds prolonged emergency department waits correlate with delays in elective surgery, highlighting capacity competition.
Key Points
To investigate whether high emergency department attendance and prolonged emergency waiting times correlate with delays in planned elective surgical services.
Retrospective cross-sectional observational study analyzing data from all patients presenting to emergency departments across the five largest health boards in NHS Scotland during 2021.
Applied univariate and multivariate regression analyses to assess relationships between emergency attendance metrics (including 4-hour target non-compliance) and elective surgical services (inpatient and outpatient waiting lists and clinic reviews).
Emergency department non-compliance with the 4-hour national waiting time target ranged between 6% and 20% across the five health boards, peaking in the second and third quarters.
Both univariate and multivariate regression analyses demonstrated a significant positive correlation between prolonged emergency department stays (>8 and >12 hours) and extended waiting times for elective surgical procedures and outpatient clinic reviews.