Consumer experiences of emergency department pre-triage waiting period: A mixed-methods study

Emergency department pre-triage waiting periods have received limited attention. We aimed to explore the pre-triage experiences and perspectives of consumers attending emergency departments.

This mixed-methods cross-sectional study included 92 participants (patients, carers, and guardians) who attended one of three public hospital emergency departments in metropolitan Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Quantitative self-report outcomes were waiting time (minutes) and number of previous emergency department visits. Qualitative outcomes (explored through content analysis) were consumer experiences and perspectives of emergency departments in general and the pre-triage waiting period specifically.

Participants reported a median (IQR) waiting time since triage of 45 (100) minutes and 65 % (n = 60) experienced a pre-triage waiting time of 3-90 minutes. The most common perception of the pre-triage waiting period was an expectation to wait (n = 16, 17 %), yet 46 % (n = 42) reported difficulties during this period, such as other patients cutting in queue (n = 6, 6.5 %). Few positives were associated with the pre-triage waiting period and suggestions to improve this period tended to focus on facilitating a queuing system (n = 18, 20 %).

Consumers expected and understood triage, yet reported various difficulties and few positives during the pre-triage waiting period and suggested improvements to the current system, warranting investigation of interventions to improve queuing.