Revised consultant contract

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Triage systems are utilised internationally to rapidly assess patients and subsequently categorise based on the need for medical intervention. A functioning triage system is essential for patient safety and flow in an emergency department. University Hospital Limerick Paediatric Emergency Department (UHL PED) utilises the Manchester Triage System which contains 10 paediatric flow charts with discriminators to triage the paediatric caseload in categories 1 – 5. It is not the role of the triage system to establish the requirement of admission; however it is the aim of this audit to establish a potential level of correlation between triage category and rate of admission. This has previously been examined prior to the introduction of the Irish Children’s Triage System in a number of hospitals in Ireland. <h3>Aim</h3> Our aim was to perform an audit of the Manchester Triage System in UHL PED: admission rates and vital sign documentation of the 5 triage categories. <h3>Methods</h3> All paediatric patients will be included in the audit from MAXIMS, the electronic attendance record in UHL ED from 3 different 24 hour periods randomly chosen in March 2019. Triage category, vital signs recorded yes/no and admission yes/no will be documented. 3 separate days are used to avoid bias from a small number of clinicians triaging for the audit in a single 24 hour period. <h3>Results</h3> Results will be presented examining the rate of admission in each triage category across all 3 days. Results of vital signs documentation will also be presented across each triage category. Following analysis another audit cycle will be performed of the vital sign documentation following education consisting of visual prompts. <h3>Conclusion</h3> UHL ED will move to the Irish Children’s Triage System. An audit of the current Manchester Triage system prior to this will be useful data to collect prior to the introduction of the new system.