Abstract :
The Emergency Department (ED) is the frontline of every hospital which is vulnerable to threats of daily overcrowding. The study aims to identify the effect of holidays in ED volume at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and show variations with regard to patient profile and disposition, if any. Total enumeration of patients seen in 2019 during holidays, non-holidays and holiday-after was utilized. Chi-square, one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Bonferroni analysis were performed at 95% CI and p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. There was a reported decrease in the number of ED patient volume during the holidays as compared to non-holiday and holiday after; patients aged 50-59 years were significantly lesser during holidays (p=0.02) while the number of patients classified as Emergency Severity Index 3 (p<0.01), indigent patients (p<0.01) and trauma cases (p=0.01) were significantly higher during holidays. Lastly, the mean number of admitted patients seen during holidays were significantly lower compared to other time periods (p=0.04). The lower ED attendance and greater number of trauma cases during holidays must be considered when allocating resources and deploying workforce. The PGH –ED must ensure logistical requirements are met particularly on declared holidays in anticipation of possible surge of trauma patients and appropriate adjustment in ED staffing must reflect the decrease in the trend of patient volume during holidays. At greater lengths, both macro- and micro-level planning strategies at the ED must weigh these variations to improve services and provide better care.
