EP.WE.433Assessment of the temporary Surgical ED Study and Audit

Aims To ascertain the effectiveness of the newly formed surgical ED during Covid-19 outbreak in terms of: Methods/Study design Retrospective cohort of 992 patients were identified and included from the period of the 5th April to 5th May 2020 Inclusion criteria: All patients attended and triaged in the new surgical emergency department. Exclusion criteria: Patients who were not triaged. Results The temporary surgical emergency department was successful in accommodating all surgical patients categorized 2, 3 and 4 with category 4 being the highest number at 45%. Hospital services were successfully accessed in 771(77.72%) during patients stay in ED including Bloods and imaging with X-ray as the most service used at 42.33%. 221(22.27%) patients didn’t require any investigations and were discharged after review by the surgical doctor within the 4-hour window. Conclusion Presence of a dedicated surgical emergency during the covid period was essential to separate medical patients from non-medical patients. Having a decision maker on the front line right after triage has reduced the overall number of admissions, number of emergency breeches and unnecessary investigations. Having a dedicated space with dedicated team could make a huge impact on the service in terms of time, effort and money spent.