title: Efficacy of a triage system to reduce length of hospital stay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of in-patient acute care. A novel method has been the development of a 'triage system' in which patients are assessed on admission to develop plans for discharge or transfer to an in-patient ward.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare a triage admission system with a traditional system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Length of stay and readmission data for all admissions in a 1-year period between the two systems were compared using the participating trust's anonymised records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite reduced length of stay on the actual triage ward, the average length of stay was not reduced and the triage system did not lead to a greater number of readmissions. There was no significant difference in costs between the two systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our findings we cannot conclude that the triage system reduced length of stay, but we can conclude that it does not increase the number of readmissions as some have feared.
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Csipke
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koeser
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCrone
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Tulloch
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salaminios
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wykes
authors.affiliation: P. Williams, MPH, Department of Health Service and Population Research; E. Csipke, PhD, Department of Psychology; D. Rose, PhD, Service User Research Enterprise and Department of Health Services and Population Research; L. Koeser, MSc, P. McCrone, PhD, A. D. Tulloch, PhD, MRCP, MRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research; G. Salaminios, MSc, Department of Psychology; T. Wykes, PhD, Department of Psychology, Department of Health Service and Population Research and Service User Research Enterprise; T. Craig, MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data