Multiple A&E attendances (HP002)

Overview/Purpose

This alert protocol highlights where patients have at least 3 coded attendances at A&E over the preceding 12 month period.

What does it do?

Counts the number of coded attendances at A&E in the last 12 months
Offers a prompt based on the patient's age
Provides the ability to record safeguarding concerns about children in a template

Why is it important?

This alert helps to highlight high use of A&E services. In children a high attendance may be an indicator of safeguarding concerns which should be investigated. In adults the alert can serve as a prompt to investigate the frequency and reasons for attending A&E over the last 12 months, and to remind patients of how to use the service appropriately.

What does it look like?

See below screenshots which shows an example of the protocol in use:

System Dependencies

Relies on using the clinical system to code all A&E attendances.

System Triggers

System trigger: Load Patient Record

Run mode: Always run

Enable trigger for: All staff

Change management considerations

Your team need to consistently code all A&E attendance notifications in the clinical system.

Double coding the same attendance may cause the alert to appear when there have only been 1 or 2 attendances in the previous 12 months.

How to get it

Optional Handy Protocols will need to be 'activated' within your clinical system. See our support article for instructions: How to locate Optional Handy Protocols and Activate these

HP current version number:

3.0.0