Article | The importance of situation reporting

Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is a widely recognised issue. Rolling headlines of widespread pressures in A&E departments, married with deteriorating departmental performance, and missed targets appear as a commonplace narrative in the media.

With Emergency Departments in the UK experiencing a substantial increase in the number of attendances from March 2011 to March 2022 (16%), bed blocking, overcrowding and growing waiting times remain at the epicentre of departmental challenges.

In this article, we explore how situation reporting can help staff to identify capacity in real-time, allowing A&E and Urgent Care teams to proactively manage and mitigate patient risk.

The Challenge

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine identified the relationship between ED overcrowding and poor patient outcomes. Reporting that an increase in ED crowding results in an increase in mortality, length of stay and medical error.

Additionally, NHS England reported that the 85% optimal hospital occupancy rate is routinely surpassed across hospitals in the UK, with many operating at over 92% occupancy. Wards that would have previously been used as escalation or winter wards, are still being used as Covid wards, adding further pressure.

Highlighting those departments most at-risk of overcrowding has never been more important – or imperative. When an organisation has the right tools in place to monitor patient intake, bed occupancy and ambulance handover times, resources can be efficiently allocated, and patient risk minimised.

How situational reporting can ease pressures on emergency departments

CEMBooks’ situational reporting helps use key performance indicators to create real-time performance reports across departments. Staff have an overview of the health of a department based on a department’s score, categorised by a red, amber, green or purple status.

By working seamlessly alongside Symphony, the data provided is accurate, reliable, and automated. This real-time technology means that any worrying trends can be identified and dealt with appropriately, as escalation actions are flagged to staff immediately.

Interested in finding out more?

CEMBooks’ latest whitepaper ‘Bed blocking and emergency department overcrowding: The importance of situation reporting’ helps explain the factors influencing Emergency Department crowding, and the proactive solutions to help alleviate this common challenge. Download your copy here.