Overcapacity and Emergency Department Overcrowding Round Table: Uptake of a CADTH Health Technology Assessment Report

In September 2009, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) hosted a joint round table on emergency department overcapacity and overcrowding. Participants from 16 organizations and government agencies enthusiastically engaged in a lively discussion on this increasingly widespread problem.

Key objectives of the meeting included the sharing of information and evidence about the occurrence, impact, and initiatives undertaken to manage emergency department overcrowding and facility overcapacity; a discussion on the possible approaches and strategies; and the development of solutions and strategies for collaborative action.

As part of the round table discussions, CADTH’s Saskatchewan Liaison Officer, Brendalynn Ens, was invited to present results from four Health Technology Assessment (HTA) reports completed by CADTH in 2006:

• Measuring Overcrowding in Emergency Departments: A Call for Standardization
• Data Collection on Patients in Emergency Departments in Canada
• Frequency, Determinants,and Impact of Overcrowding in Emergency Departments in Canada: A National Survey of Emergency Department Directors
• Interventions to Reduce Overcrowding in Emergency Departments.

CADTH’s reports confirmed the concept that emergency department overcrowding is not exclusively an emergency department problem, but rather a larger health system-related issue. Round table members strongly agreed with findings from the four-part HTA series: that overcrowding and overcapacity can negatively impact patient satisfaction, staff recruitment and retention, and patient safety.

These CADTH technology assessments were instrumental in building a common and collaborative evidence-informed platform for future initiatives.

_{Emergency department overcrowding in Canada. CADTH, 2006:
http://www.cadth.ca/index.php/en/hta/reports-publications/search/publication/621.}