Crucial points Marcello. If we only have the resources to implement "see and
treat" occasionally (which figures for most departments), then most of us
will do so only at peak times. And then, should we target the patients who
have just arrived, or rather those who've been waiting several hours and who
have all their obs and investigations already completed? Surely "see and
treat" can only work properly if it is fully implemented at all times. And
this will take at least six senior or middle grade doctors devoted only to
this task. Someone had better start "knitting" soon and "knitting"
fast(acknowledgement, Kerner, 2002)!
AF
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Subject: See and Treat
I suspect that the principle of "see and treat" requires a patient to
doctor/nurse ratio very low.
It is, in fact, a perfect system when you have just a couple of patients
with very minor things in the waiting room, of a clean, empty ED. Then you
"see and treat" them quickly and they save time (not a lot, though).
The lenght of time patients spend waiting (to see doctors, nurses, have
X-rays, etc) becomes a "problem" when the Department is busy.
Unfortunately, often patients tend to arrive in clusters, and not all of
them are so "minors" as to take a few minutes for a prescription, a
dressing or just to be told to go somewhere else. Abd you will still have
major and resus cases to deal with. If your resources are still the same
(and I mean limited), I fear that "see and treat" will not improve things
that much and, if anything, might make them worse (or at least more
chaotic).
M. Della Corte
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