Emergency department admission rates vary widely across hospitals in England

Hospital admission rates from emergency departments in England vary widely, ranging from less than 10% to more than 40%, Medical Xpress reported. Research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal indicates that local patient factors, primary care availability, and geographic locations do not explain these large differences across the country. [1]

According to Medical Xpress, the findings suggest that health services need locally tailored strategies to address these disparities. Researchers noted that future planning must take local resource configurations into account to address the wide variations in how emergency departments admit patients. [1]

In the United Kingdom, emergency care operates alongside a network of urgent treatment centres. Urgent treatment centres are walk-in clinics designed to treat urgent injuries or illnesses that require immediate care but are not serious enough to need a traditional hospital emergency department. The National Health Service determined in 2019 that all areas of England should be served by these centres. [2]