• Marie Frank-Soltysiak and Charles Court.
• Service de santé publique et d'épidémiologie, CHU de Bicêtre, 78, rue du Général Leclerc, 94275 Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. marie.frank@bct.ap-hop-paris.fr
• Presse Med. 2002 Nov 9; 31 (36): 1690-5.

ObjectiveThe emergency department of a university hospital centre receives 40,000 patients per year. A study was conducted in its surgical unit to assess the existing dysfunctions and to develop corrective measures.MethodThe method used was that of a prospective survey, based on two questionnaires: one on the waiting time, provided by each patient and by the different participants and one distributed to the consultants to measure their satisfaction with regard to the services rendered. The data were analysed using multivariate methods.ResultsThe questionnaire "waiting time" was completed for 812 patients. The median time spent in the emergency department was of 100 minutes, 47% of patients saw a physician less than 15 minutes after their arrival. The median medical time was of 45 minutes. The prescription of supplementary examinations significantly increased the time spent in the department (p < 0.01). Two hundred and twenty persons completed the "perception" questionnaire. Forty percent of patients considered that they had to wait too long, the time spent waiting for a medical examination was too long for 27.7%; 62.5% of the consultants were not informed of the foreseeable waiting time and the reasons for this delay. The participants were well cared for in 95.4% of cases, and well informed on the possible evolution of their lesions (88.4% of cases). The recommendations on leaving the department were clearly explained for 93.7%, 98.6% of the persons interviewed had been received kindly and 96.5% would return to the department if they needed to.ConclusionThis study revealed the insufficient information provided on the waiting time and the reasons for this delay. The availability of a nurse to welcome and assist the patients would improve these parameters. Posters should be displayed with information on the foreseeable waiting time. During a meeting to present the results of this study, all the staff were made aware of this problem.

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