New funding will see a large-scale project launched across NSW to significantly improve patient outcomes and experiences in Emergency Departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief investigator and Kolling Institute researcher Professor Margaret Fry said more than $2.8 million will be invested in the EPIC-START program, giving patients better access to early evidence-based treatment pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30 Emergency Departments will initially be involved in the project which is aimed at achieving better outcomes through earlier decisions, delivery of care and detection of clinical deterioration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Fry said a new approach is needed with our Emergency Departments across NSW facing unprecedented demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWe know that millions of Australians seeking care in our EDs are confronted by overcrowded waiting rooms, ambulance ramping, time-poor clinicians and long wait times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOvercrowding causes delays in treatment and diagnosis, leading to adverse events and poor patient outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur current models of care are not equipped to deal with this or designed to help patients move through ED efficiently in these situations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe EPIC-START model of care however, will implement data analytic tools and evidence-based clinical pathways to improve patient flow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The model focuses on faster decision-making and delivery of care. Validated decision support tools will be used at triage to stream patients to various parts of the hospital, with treatments commenced earlier using standardised nurse-initiated pathways across all common illnesses presenting to ED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe project will upskill emergency nurses to ensure all patients attending Emergency Departments have access to earlier evidence-based interventions, like pain relief, blood tests and x-rays, rather than waiting hours for a doctor to order them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose who deteriorate despite early interventions will be flagged to senior doctors using electronic alerts based on data in the electronic medical record. This will improve efficiency and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur approach is founded on reviews of the literature, our local research outcomes and our real-world experience in Emergency Departments over the past decade. It\u2019s now time to upscale this model for all NSW emergency patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would like to see a stronger system where all Australians have timely access to high-quality, patient centred emergency care, by using sustainable and data-driven approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2044,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"research-group-tax":[],"primary-research-area":[],"class_list":["post-2043","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop.webp",550,380,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop-300x207.webp",300,207,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop.webp",550,380,false],"large":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop.webp",550,380,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop.webp",550,380,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/thumb_Blog_resized-banner_w550_h380_fcrop.webp",550,380,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"ict-wordpress-support@sydney.edu.au","author_link":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/author\/ict-wordpress-supportsydney-edu-au\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"New funding will see a large-scale project launched across NSW to significantly improve patient outcomes and experiences in Emergency Departments. Chief investigator and Kolling Institute researcher Professor Margaret Fry said more than $2.8 million will be invested in the EPIC-START program, giving patients better access to early evidence-based treatment pathways. 30 Emergency Departments will initially…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5437,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2043\/revisions\/5437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2043"},{"taxonomy":"research-group-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-group-tax?post=2043"},{"taxonomy":"primary-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kollinginstitute.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary-research-area?post=2043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}