Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To assess how frequently and adequately information relating to the possibility of non-accidental injury (NAI) is documented and considered by doctors assessing pre-school children with burns and scalds in the accident and emergency (A&E) department, and to determine the effect of introducing a routine reminder mechanism into the A&E notes, coupled with an improved programme of NAI education and awareness. ⋯ Prevailing awareness and documentation regarding the possibility of NAI was found to be poor, but a programme of intervention combining education and the use of a reminder checklist improved both awareness and documentation of NAI, as well as referral rates for further assessment. This strategy may prove applicable to children of all ages and injury types, reducing the number of cases of child abuse that are overlooked in the A&E department.
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To assess the effects of centralisation of accident and emergency (A&E) services in a large urban setting. The end points were the quality of patient care judged by time to see a doctor or nurse practitioner, time to admission and the cost of the A&E service as a whole. ⋯ Centralisation of A&E services in Sheffield has led to concentration of the most ill patients in a single adult department and separate paediatric A&E department. Despite a greatly increased number of admissions at the adult site this change has not resulted in increased waiting times for admission because of the transfer of adequate beds to support the changes. There has however been a deterioration in the time to see a clinician, especially in the A&E departments. The waiting times at the minor injury unit are very short.
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To improve the time taken for children arriving to the accident and emergency (A&E) department in pain to receive analgesia. Delivery within 30 minutes of triage was taken as an achievable goal. ⋯ The introduction of a simple Paediatric Pain Protocol has improved the time taken to deliver analgesia to children arriving in this A&E department.
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To determine whether minimum clinically significant difference in visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score varies according to the severity of pain reported. ⋯ The MCSD in VAS pain score does not differ with the severity of pain being experienced.