Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Comparative Study
The impact of co-located NHS walk-in centres on emergency departments.
To determine the impact of establishing walk-in centres alongside emergency departments (EDs) on attendance rates, visit duration, process, costs and outcome of care. ⋯ Most hospitals in this study implemented the walk-in centre concept to a very limited extent. Consequently, there was no evidence of any effect on attendance rates, process, costs or outcome of care.
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To examine (1) the prevalence of experiencing physical, injurious and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) and (2) the associations between HIV risks and different types of IPV among women receiving care in an inner city emergency department (ED). ⋯ For many women receiving care in EDs, IPV and several HIV risk behaviours are frequent, co-occurring health problems. HIV testing and routine IPV inquiry in ED settings offer an important opportunity to identify women who are affected by these overlapping epidemics and refer them to appropriate treatment services.
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An emergency care practitioner (ECP) is a generic practitioner drawn mainly from paramedic and nursing backgrounds. ECPs receive formal training and extended clinical skills to equip them to work as an integral part of the healthcare team working within and across traditional boundaries of emergency and unplanned care. Currently, ECPs are working in different healthcare settings in the UK. ⋯ Care provided by ECPs appears to reduce the need for subsequent referral to other emergency and unscheduled care services in a large proportion of cases. We found no evidence that the care provided by an ECP was less appropriate than the care by the usual providers for the same type of health problem.
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The wrist is the most commonly injured joint in the body. However, wrist injuries are often missed in the emergency department (ED). If the fracture is not diagnosed and remains untreated, the patient runs a considerable risk of chronic disability. The utility of CT as an aid in the diagnosis of carpal bone fracture was investigated. ⋯ Emergency physicians should consider CT of the wrist after plain radiography when patients with suspected carpal fracture show normal radiographic findings.