Alcohol-related emergency department attendances over weekend nights
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Alcohol-related emergency department attendances over weekend nights: A descriptive study
IRAS ID
244626
Contact name
Steve Goodacre
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study will answer the question: What are the characteristics of alcohol-related emergency department (ED) attendances over weekend nights and what is the potential for alternative services to reduce ED demand?
It has been estimated that up to 70% of ED attendances over weekend nights are alcohol-related. Alcohol Intoxication Management Services (AIMS) have been set up in a number of towns and cities to address this issue but emerging evidence suggests that these services do not reduce ED attendances. We therefore need more information to allow us to develop AIMS to better address the problem of alcohol-related ED attendances.
This project aims to describe the characteristics of alcohol-related ED attendances over weekend nights, determine how many could be managed by alternative services and determine what alternative services would need to provide. A medical student researcher will undertake the study as an educational project for an intercalated BMedSci degree. She will work with ED staff to classify weekend attendances at the Northern General ED according to whether they were related to alcohol. She will then use a combination of direct observation and review of ED records to determine what tests and treatments were performed for patients with alcohol-related attendances and the outcome of attendance.
The data collected will be analysed to provide a description of the characteristics of alcohol-related ED attendances, the management received and the outcomes of attendances. The analysis will determine what facilities would need to be available for an alternative service to manage people with alcohol-related attendance and how many patients per weekend night could be appropriately managed at an alternative service.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0154
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion