Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association
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Objective To explore measures of potentially avoidable general practitioner (PAGP)-type presentations to the emergency department (ED) of a large regional hospital in northern Queensland. Methods Linkage of an ED administrative dataset to a face-to-face patient survey of local residents (n=1000); calculation of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM) measures of PAGP-type presentations to the ED; and exploration of these measures with patient-perspective linked data. Results PAGP-type presenters to the ED were younger in age (median age in years: total cohort: 49; AIHW 38, P<0.001; ACEM 36, P<0.001); with the odds of having a chronic condition being less likely for AIHW PAGP-type presenters than other ED presenters (OR (95% CI) 0.54 (0.38-0.77): P=0.001)) after adjustment for age. ⋯ Methods of measuring this indicator have been under review since 2012 and debate remains on how to accurately determine the measure. What does this paper add? By using patient perspective-linked data to explore different measures of PAGP-type presentations to EDs, this paper identifies issues with measure elements and suggests ways to improve these measures. What are the implications for practitioners? Measure elements of patient 'self-referral to the ED' and 'medical consultation time' require further consideration if they are to be used to measure PAGP-type presentations to the ED.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Description of the effect of patient flow, junior doctor supervision and pandemic preparation on the ability of emergency physicians to provide direct patient care.
Objective A pilot study to: (1) describe the ability of emergency physicians to provide primary consults at an Australian, major metropolitan, adult emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with historical performance; and (2) to identify the effect of system and process factors on productivity. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional description of shifts worked between 1 and 29 February 2020, while physicians were carrying out their usual supervision, flow and problem-solving duties, as well as undertaking additional COVID-19 preparation, was documented. Effect of supervisory load, years of Australian registration and departmental flow factors were evaluated. ⋯ What are the implications for practitioners? When managing an emergency medical workforce, the contribution of emergency physicians to the number of patients requiring consults should take into account the high volume of alternative duties required. Increasing alternative duties can decrease primary provider tasks that can be completed. COVID-19 pandemic preparation has significantly reduced the ability of emergency physicians to manage their own patients.
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Multicenter Study
Challenges in obtaining research ethics and governance approvals for an Australian national intersector, multisite audit study.
Objective The aim of this study was to describe timelines and challenges encountered in obtaining ethics and governance approvals for an Australian multicentre audit study involving 100 public (n=22) and private (n=78) sites from three health sectors and all eight Australian states and territories. Methods We determined and compared the processes, documentation and number of business days required to prepare applications and obtain research ethics and governance approvals. Results In total, the full ethics and governance process (calculated from the date the first application was started to the date the final approval was granted) took 203 business days (79% of the study timeline). ⋯ Previous examinations of Australian multicentre studies have considered only one health sector, focused on the public system and/or were not national in scope. What are the implications for practitioners? Researchers and funders need to be aware of the considerable time, resources and costs involved in gaining research ethics and governance approvals for multicentre studies and include this in budgets and study timelines. Policy makers and administrators of ethics and governance review processes must address barriers to conducting multicentre research in Australia.
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Objective This study analysed screening for COVID-19 before surgery and outcomes of any perioperative testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection during pandemic-restricted surgery. Methods An audit was conducted with routinely collected health data before both elective and non-elective surgery at two large Melbourne hospitals during April and early May 2020. We looked for documented systematic screening for COVID-19 disease and fever (>38°C) and results of SARS-COV-2 testing, and proposed a minimum acceptable documenting rate of 85%. ⋯ What are the implications for practitioners? Clear documenting is important in managing patients. Pandemics and other crises can require rapid changes in practice. Implementing such measures may be less complete than anticipated and may require greater use of evidence-based implementation strategies, particularly in the less predictable care of non-elective surgery patients.
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Objective In Australia, 2.7 million surgical procedures were performed in the year 2016-17. This number is ever increasing and requires effective management of operating theatre (OT) time. Preoperative prediction of theatre time is one of the main constituents of OT scheduling, and anecdotal evidence suggests that surgeons grossly underestimate predicted surgical time. ⋯ This will facilitate more accurate predictions of OT time and ensure that theatre lists are not over or underutilised. Moreover, surgeons will be encouraged to make OT time predictions with serious consideration, after understanding its effect on theatre scheduling and associated costs. Hence, the aim is to try to make an estimation of OT time, which is closer to the actual time required.