Seven-day unplanned re-attendance rate for patients seen in the ED by advanced clinical practitioners: a service evaluation.

Abstract

Advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) have become an established part of the emergency medicine workforce in the UK. However, despite increasing numbers of ACPs working in emergency medicine, there is little evidence regarding their impact on care in this area and a lack of metrics available to assess their performance. To inform national benchmarking and comparisons between organisations, the authors of this article calculated the seven-day unplanned re-attendance rate for patients seen by ACPs at two emergency departments (EDs) in the UK and compared it with the rate for patients seen locally by all other clinicians and with the overall rate in England. Over a 12-month period, the seven-day unplanned re-attendance rate for ACPs was 5.9%, versus 6.7% for all other clinicians and 8.2% nationally. As a measurable and meaningful indicator of the quality of care, the seven-day unplanned re-attendance rate could be integrated into routine data collection and used constructively in the appraisal process and professional development of ACPs.