Trends and determinants of time spent in the emergency department among Australian hospital presenting self-harm cases.

Aims: Waiting time (WT) and length of stay (LOS) are important metrics used to assess service delivery in emergency departments (EDs), and have been associated with subsequent re-presentations in EDs. This study investigated socio-demographic and health service determinants of WT and LOS among hospital treated self-harm (SH) cases presenting to EDs in Australian based hospitals.

Methods: This study employed a retrospective cohort study of all SH cases (N = 6203) presenting to public hospital EDs in the Western Sydney catchment area from January 2016 to December 2022.