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. 2005 Jan;98(1):14-7.
doi: 10.1177/014107680509800105.

The surgical assessment unit--effective strategy for improvement of the emergency surgical pathway?

M S Mohamed  1 , G R Mufti
Affiliations

The surgical assessment unit--effective strategy for improvement of the emergency surgical pathway?

M S Mohamed et al. J R Soc Med. 2005 Jan.

Abstract

A special unit was set up in an associate teaching hospital to provide a fast-track route for the assessment of acute adult surgical and urological referrals. During an audit period of eight weeks, this surgical assessment unit had 550 referrals, of which 196 (36%) came via the accident and emergency (A&E) department; the other 354 came directly from general practitioners or other hospital departments. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays were the busiest days of the week; 57% of all patients arrived between 8 am and 5 pm. 68% were seen by a doctor within 1 hour of their arrival. 68% were either discharged or admitted to the main surgical wards within 4 hours. The study showed that, over the course of a year, the surgical assessment unit might divert some 2301 patients away from the A&E department. To achieve this total it would need to be open and appropriately staffed 24 hours a day. Such a unit offers a strategy for limiting the A&E workload and streamlining the assessment of patients with surgical and urological emergencies.

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Figures

<i>Figure 1</i>
Figure 1
Time of arrival of patients (n=536)
<i>Figure 2</i>
Figure 2
Distribution of waiting times to be seen by a doctor (n=479)
<i>Figure 3</i>
Figure 3
Distribution of time spent in surgical assessment unit (n=453)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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