• Martin Kelly, Nicholas O'Keeffe, Ara Francis, Conor Moran, Karen Gantley, Fintan Doyle, and Paddy Kenny.
• Department of Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, Connolly Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. martinkelly@rcsi.com.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2020 May 1; 189 (2): 425-429.

BackgroundTrauma Assessment Clinics (TAC) were pioneered by the Glasgow Royal Infirmary Group. Patients deemed for non-operative management are referred to the TAC for review by an orthopaedic consultant with multidisciplinary team (MDT) support. Connolly Hospital launched a TAC on 11 September 2018.AimsThe goal of this study was to evaluate the effect the introduction of this initiative had on patient flow in our institution.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of the Connolly Hospital TAC for the 6-month period since its introduction. We evaluated patient demographics, injuries and outcomes. Furthermore, we retrospectively reviewed the fracture and elective clinic attendances pre- and post-TAC introduction.ResultsOver the first 6 months of this initiative, there were 36 trauma assessment clinics. Two hundred forty-seven patients were reviewed with an average age of 42.3 years. 42.9% (N = 106) was reviewed directly by the physiotherapy department. 31.6% (N = 78) was scheduled directly for fracture clinic follow-up from the TAC. 8.2% (N = 45) was discharged directly to their GP from TAC. A review of fracture clinic attendances for the corresponding time period the previous year (from September 2017), highlighted a 22% decrease in new fracture clinic appointments.ConclusionsFollowing the introduction of the TAC, we noted a marked reduction in fracture clinic attendances. Our outcomes were consistent with results from other units. We established two injection clinics as a direct result of the time saved from the TAC. It has proven to be of benefit to both the trauma and elective patients in our institution.

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