Assessment Of The Triage System At The Emergency Department Of The Greater Accra Regional Hospital

ABSTRACT Background: Triage ensures that patients are treated in order of their clinical urgency. However, developing and less developed countries, including Ghana, are not utilizing the full potential of the triage system. The purpose of this study was to assess triaging of patients at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study design was employed in this study. Triage records of 1,520 patients from July to September was assessed using a checklist. A selfadministered structured questionnaire was administered to 26 ED staff. Descriptive analysis of demographic data was carried out showing frequencies, averages and standard deviations of the variables. The Chi-square statistic ( 2 ) was used to assess the relationship between triage outcomes and process, and triage outcome by sex distribution. Results: There was good emergency department utilization among patients (75%). There were 22.6% admissions, 22.6% discharges and 19.7% referrals after triaging. The triage process was mainly high acuity triaging (71.5%), with under triaging and over triaging accounting for 23.3% and 5.2% respectively. However, staff shortage (92%), inadequate materials and resources to work with (85%) and overcrowding (77%) were the challenges faced by the ED staff with the smooth implementation of the triage process. Conclusions: General ED utilisation was good among the patients and the triage process was generally satisfactory although there were over and under triaging. However, implementation of the triage process was not without challenges. It is recommended that staff communications and interactions should be improved and undertake workload assessment.