Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances Clinical Trial
Official title:
Targeted Letters to Reduce Avoidable Emergency Department Attendances
The study aims to test whether it is possible to reduce pressure on Emergency Departments by
sending a personal feedback letter to people who have recently attended an Emergency
Department and whose health issues could likely have been dealt with elsewhere. These
attendances clearly have many causes. However, it is likely that some attendances are due to
behavioural factors - in other words, the various ways in which users interact with
services. This study focuses on one particular behavioural factor: lack of feedback to users
making avoidable visits.
The study will take place in collaboration with an NHS hospital trust. Each week during the
trial, the hospital trust will identify those Emergency Department attendances in the last
seven days which, according to clinical judgement, could have been dealt with elsewhere.
Patients will then be randomly selected to receive a letter containing information on
alternative healthcare options for non-emergency health concerns. Patient records will be
analysed to determine whether the patients who received the letter are less likely to make
an avoidable repeat visit to the Emergency Department in the future, compared with patients
who received no letter.
n/a
Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver), Primary Purpose: Health Services Research