Crowded A&Es 'increase a patient's risk of dying within 10 days'
As Research And In Previous Delays Staff To Longer For Stays Hospitals, Stress Patients Getting To Study Leads Showing The As Increased Overcrowding Well Treated, In Points
Patients who visit a hospital emergency department when they are most crowded face an increased risk of dying within 10 days, new research shows.
A survey of 103,196 visits to an emergency department in a Finnish hospital showed “visiting the ED during the most crowded hours increased the risk for 10-day mortality.”
They found the busiest times correlated to bed occupancy rates as high as 90% during visits between January 2018 and February 29, 2020.
The study focused on 61,297 patients who were triaged as not in need of immediate attention.
“We focused on this group as they are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of crowding when resources are limited, and critical patients must take priority,” the researchers said.
“This group comprises a significant proportion of ED patients, and many may suffer from serious conditions, such as sepsis or acute myocardial infarction (AMI)."
The authors, including Anna Eidstø, measured occupancy rates at Tampere University Hospital ED to describe overcrowding across 65 beds in this unit.
After allowing for other factors, they found: “the highest quartile of crowding was identified as an independent risk factor for 10-day mortality. “
Some 56% of the patients analysed were admitted to hospital and the remainder discharged.
“There were 1022 (1.0%) deaths within 10 days, 9.8% (n = 100) of these were patients discharged from the ED and 90.2% (n = 922) had been admitted to the hospital,” the study found.
The study also points to previous research showing overcrowding also leads to longer stays in hospitals, delays in getting treated, and increased stress for patients as well as staff.
Reports on Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, last December warned hospitals in Helsinki were “severely overcrowded, emergency rooms full to capacity” and was linked to nurse shortages.
The head of emergency medicine services for the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District told the broadcaster: “A few days ago, 24 of the 31 beds in the Jorvi emergency room were occupied by patients waiting for a ward. Those patients are waiting up to five days to be transferred to other wards for further treatment.”
The study appeared in the journal.