Emergency centre triage category allocations and their associated patient flow timeframes in a private healthcare group in the Middle East

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To identify and describe triage category allocations and their associated patient pathway timeframes in four emergency centres of a large private healthcare group in the United Arab Emirates. BACKGROUND: The classification of patients in accordance with their acuity level is a complex task that requires quick and accurate allocation. Triage system categories have predetermined timeframes in which patients should be seen by a physician or treatment initiated for the best possible outcome. DESIGN AND METHODS: An observational, cross‐sectional study was conducted through the prospective capture and evaluation of medical records from patients triaged in each of the four emergency centres (two hospitals and two clinics) over a period of a month. The STROBE statement was used as a reporting framework. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the timeframes associated with the patient pathway through each EC and contrasted against their allocated triage category. RESULTS: A total of 4,432 patient records were eligible for analysis from the four emergency centres. Triage category 4 (54.7%) was allocated the most with only a single category 1 patient seen between the four emergency centres. The median time from registration to triage was <10 min and triage to physician consult was <25 min. The overall length of stay of high‐acuity cases was between 1 hr 13 min–2 hr 44 min, compared with low‐acuity cases being 32–49 min. Overall time to physician was substantially lower than the targets set by the triage systems itself.