Research - Validation and Impact of the 4 hour rule in ED
Research Project Overview
Validation and Impact of the 4 hour rule in Emergency Departments
Synopsis
In 2008, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine confirmed and ratified that access block and emergency department (ED) overcrowding were the most serious issues confronting EDs in the developed world because they compromise quality and timeliness of patient care. Since then, there have been significant changes and innovations in and outside the ED. In 2009, the Australian Federal Government announced plans for a Four Hour National Emergency Access Target (NEAT). The Four-Hour NEAT is defined as a target whereby 85% of patients must spend less than four hours in the emergency department (ED) from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. The NEAT started to be progressively implemented from 1st January 2011 until 2015. In 2012 we obtained a NHMRC Partnership Grant (APP1029492) to study this issue.