Is seniority of emergency physician associated with the weekend mortality effect? An exploratory analysis of electronic health records in the UK.

Objective: Admission to hospital over a weekend is associated with increased mortality, but the underlying causes of the weekend effect are poorly understood. We explore to what extent differences in emergency department (ED) admission and discharge processes, severity of illness and the seniority of the treating physician explain the weekend effect.

Methods: We analysed linked ED attendances to hospital admissions to Cambridge University Hospital over a 7-year period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013, with 30-day in-hospital death as the primary outcome and discharge as a competing risk.

Which adverse events should be reported in an emergency department? A Delphi study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if emergency medicine specific triggers for completing an incident form could be agreed and if a common definition for contributory factors could be achieved. Such definitions could be used to improve safety within the emergency department (ED) and share learning across the specialty.

Participants And Methods: One hundred and fifteen ED safety leads in the UK and Ireland were invited to participate in a Delphi study.

Reductions in hospital admissions and mortality rates observed after integrating emergency care: a natural experiment.

Objectives: Reducing emergency admissions is a priority for the NHS. A single hospital's emergency care system was reorganised with the principles of front-loaded investigations, integration of specialties, reduced duplication, earlier decision making by senior clinicians and a combined emergency assessment area. The authors relocated our Medical Assessment Unit into our emergency department in 2006.