Winner: Patient Safety First Award
The Accelerated Review and Coordination of Treatment, Investigation and Care (ARCTIC) model was introduced at The Sutherland Hospital Emergency Department (TSH ED) in winter 2024 to address long wait times and care delays for Triage Category 2 (T2) patients.
Operational weekdays from 10:00am to 8:00pm, ARCTIC's front-of-house team included an emergency physician, intern, and senior registered nurse to deliver early senior-led assessments, targeted investigations, earlier commencement of treatment and streamlined specialist and allied health referrals.
During ARCTIC hours, the team consistently treated a third of all presentations and reduced median T2 wait times by 80% - from 40 minutes to 7–9 minutes. More than 80% of T2 patients were seen within the recommended 10-minute benchmark. Admitted T2 patients spent an average of 1 hour and 15-minutes less in TSH ED compared to winter 2023.
Importantly, ARCTIC was rolled out within existing staffing budgets and achieved $52,030 in pathology savings over 3 months. This has since exceeded $200,000 savings in the financial year. Its success has led to permanent establishment at TSH ED and shows that ARCTIC is a scalable, sustainable model for improving patient flow, efficiency, and safety in emergency departments across NSW.
Meet the other finalists for the Patient Safety First Award.
