SARS-CoV-2 Testing and Patient Waiting Times in the Emergency Department.

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Emergency Departments (EDs) faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including high patient volumes.
• SARS-CoV-2 reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing was crucial for patient triage and isolation.
• The need for rapid diagnostic turnaround in ED settings was evident.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a 24-hour SARS-CoV-2 testing service on patient experience times (PETs) in the ED.
• To assess the effect of the 24-hour testing service on healthcare-associated (HA) COVID-19 infections.
• To determine the effectiveness of rapid testing in managing patient flow and infection control during a pandemic.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of patient experience times (PETs) before and after the implementation of 24-hour SARS-CoV-2 testing.
• Monitoring of weekly healthcare-associated (HA) COVID-19 infection rates reported to the Health Services Executive.
• Comparison of PETs and HA-COVID-19 infection rates across different pandemic waves.

Main Results:

• Mean PET decreased significantly from pre-pandemic levels (20 hours) to 10-13 hours during the first two waves.
• Despite a surge in cases and attendances in the third wave, mean PET remained low at 11 hours.
• Healthcare-associated (HA) COVID-19 infections remained stable, with 83 cases in wave one and 92 in wave three.

Conclusions:

• The introduction of 24-hour SARS-CoV-2 testing demonstrably reduced patient experience times in the ED.
• The rapid testing service facilitated appropriate patient placement, improving ward-level management.
• The 24-hour testing strategy effectively controlled healthcare-associated COVID-19 infections at acceptable levels.