Variation in ambulance pre-alert process and practice: cross-sectional survey of ambulance clinicians.

Background: Ambulance clinicians use pre-alert calls to inform emergency departments (EDs) about the arrival of critically ill patients. However, there is variation in guidance between local ambulance service policies in terms of what should be pre-alerted and how pre-alerts should happen. We conducted a national online survey to understand the use of ambulance pre-alerts and to inform recommendations for practice and guidance.

FAIRSTEPS study - Framework Addressing Inequities in pRimary care using STakEholder PerspectiveS: Integrative evidence review and Delphi consensus.

Objectives: Health inequities are unjust and avoidable differences in health outcomes across populations and between population groups. Though these arise predominantly from social determinants of health, healthcare is estimated to contribute around 20 % and primary healthcare reduces inequities in healthcare outcomes. As each provider works in their local context, we sought to provide an evidence-informed framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating local health inequity interventions in primary care.

Adoption of a semi-elective lung transplantation practice by safely extending cold ischemic times.

Objective: Lung transplantation is a complex surgical procedure performed by specialized teams. Practice changes to eliminate overnight lung transplants were implemented at our center and patient outcomes were evaluated.

Methods: Patient and donor organ selection were performed in the standard fashion.

How do emergency departments respond to ambulance pre-alert calls? A qualitative exploration of the management of pre-alerts in UK emergency departments.

Background: Calls to emergency departments (EDs) from ambulances to alert them to a critical case being transported to that facility that requires a special response ('pre-alerts') have been shown to improve outcomes for patients requiring immediate time-critical treatment (eg, stroke). However, little is known about their usefulness for other patients and the processes involved in ED responses to them. This study aimed to understand how pre-alerts influence patient care in the ED.