A research report presented to the
Division of Emergency Medicine,
Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of the Witwatersrand
In partial fulfilment of the degree
Master of Science in Medicine (Emergency Medicine) / Background: Private health care emergency departments (EDs) are vital
components of health care systems and have become increasingly popular due to
their accessibility, convenience and proficiency. This popularity has led to
overcrowding which in turn has led to increased patient waiting times. Lengthy
waiting times have been shown to be a common cause of patient dissatisfaction.
Patients, however, often overestimate the passage of time which results in
unwarranted dissatisfaction.
Study objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish the actual waiting
times experienced by patients from the time of triage to first doctor contact at the
Dogwood Hospital Emergency Department.
Design: A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken at the
Dogwood Hospital Emergency Department from 1
st January 2009 to the 30th
August 2009. All patients (adults and children) of all priority who sought medical
attention at the Dogwood Hospital ED were included in the study.
Main Results: Priority 3 patients waited the longest out of all patients, particularly
on weekday mornings. Overall this study revealed that for 70% of patients the
triage-to-doctor waiting time was less than 1 hour. Almost 24% of patients waited
between one and two hours and about six percent waited more than two hours.
Conclusions: Most patients in this study were seen by a doctor within the target
times set by the South African Triage Group (SATG). Numerous studies suggest
that patients believe that the acceptable triage-to-doctor waiting time is
approximately one hour. In this study 30% of patients waited longer than one hour.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/13717 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Piccolo, Christian |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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