title: [A short track to relieve pediatric emergency department overload].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number of emergency pediatric consultations continues to rise in France. The pediatric emergency department (PED) introduced relocated consultations (RlCs) for unwarranted visits to relieve the overload of emergency medical consultations. The objective of this study was to assess the advantages of implementing these RlCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center prospective study was undertaken from 21st January to 18 March 2012, with RlCs opened on weekends from 1 to 8 pm in the PED of the Nice Lenval University Hospital Center. All children referred for medical reasons during this period were included. One out of two children labeled stage 5 were transferred to the RlCs. The data evaluated were waiting time, duration of the medical consultation, transit time, and patient and medical staff satisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight hundred and seventy-five patients were included. All patients in stages 1-2, 3, 4, and 5, relocated or not, had a mean waiting time before the medical consultation lasting 39.1, 57.7, 54.8, 70.5, and 52.7 min, respectively. The mean duration of the medical consultation was longer for stages 1-2 (61.6 min). The total time spent in the PED did not differ between stage 5 patients who were not relocated (121.3 min) and stages 1-2 (118 min), but both were longer than stage 5 patients who were relocated (90.3 min). Patients and medical staff expressed overall satisfaction during this period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By relocating one out of two stage 5 children, waiting times and consultation times decreased for all patients consulting at the PED. These results confirm that implementing RlCs has improved working conditions and quality of patient management.
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France. Electronic address: dianedemonchy@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demonchy
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gillet Vittori
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Montaudie
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piccini-Bailly
authors.affiliation: Service des urgences pédiatriques, hôpitaux pédiatriques de Nice, CHU Lenval, 57, avenue de la Californie, 06200 Nice, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tran
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D013997:Time Factors; D016526:Workload