Understanding escalation area and corridor care in UK emergency departments: An observational cohort and Delphi study. (UNCORKED)

Research summary

Crowding in emergency departments is a recognised public health challenge. Crowding leads to patient care being delivered in areas not originally designed for this use known as ‘escalation areas’. Although a formal definition of an escalation area does not exist, examples include ambulance waiting areas, repurposed clinical areas outside the usual emergency department footprint and non-clinical areas such as hospital corridors. There is a lack of data about how many patients are receiving care in such environments, and what impact this has on their care and outcomes. In this study, we will begin to address these questions by: 1. Estimating the number of patients cared for in escalation areas. 2. Describing which patients experience escalation area care. 3. Reporting 28 day mortality and hospital length of stay for those who experience corridor care 3. Defining emergency department escalation areas. The results will provide much-needed data on escalation area use, which will inform discussions on how best to address this problem and future research related to escalation area care and its impact on patient outcomes.

Principal Investigator

Charlotte Tickle

Contact us

Website: https://ternresearch.co.uk/uncorked/uncorked-site-portal

Email: emergency.research@oxnet.nhs.uk

Phone: 01865222003

IRAS number

343816