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Over half of adults under the age of 65 years will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives (Ahmad et al., 2015). Demand for services is outstripping the capacity in the NHS, as 77% of NHS Trusts are unable to start treatment within 62 days (Baker, 2019; NHS England, 2019). Side effects of treatment can be life threatening (Tsai et al., 2010) with many patients attending ED; however, these can be managed through a hospital’s Acute Oncology Service (AOS). This paper aims to explore a collaborative leadership approach to improve services for patients [Rubin et al., 2015; Department of Health (DOH), 2012].

A case study of an AOS in an NHS Trust was the focus for the development of a strategy of ‘Collaborative’ leadership, with the aim to increase the engagement of a wide network of clinical and non-clinical stakeholders in a review of the AOS. The case study identified the level of effectiveness of the service since its inception in 2012. Using a quality improvement methodology (Deming 2000; Health Foundation, 2011; Aylott, 2019) resulted in learning and increased collaboration between clinical and non-clinical staff.

Action learning processes revealed that AOS staff had been frustrated for some time about the dysfunction of the current process to manage the increased demand for the service. They reported their perceptions and frustrations with the current process of referral and patient discharge. Data revealed alerts from the Emergency Department (ED) to AOS resulted in 72% of patients inappropriately referred, with an over representation of patients who had a previous existing cancer condition. Clinical engagement with the data informatics manager (DC) revealed a need to improve data quality through improvements made to the database.

Increasing demand for cancer services requires a continuous need for improvement to meet patient needs. Cancer waits for diagnostic tests are at their highest level since 2008, with 4% of patients waiting over 6 weeks to be tested compared to the tested target of 1% (Baker, 2019). This paper draws on data collected from 2017 to 2018, but a continuous review of data is required to measure the performance of the AOS against its service specification. Every AOS team across the NHS could benefit from a collaborative learning approach.

Clinical services need collaborative support from informatics to implement a Quality Improvement methodology such as the IHI Model for Improvement (IHI, 2003). Without collaboration the implementation of a quality improvement strategy for all NHS Trusts will not come to fruition (Kings Fund, 2016). Quality Improvement Strategies must be developed with a collaborative leadership implementation plan that includes patient collaboration strategies (Okpala, 2018), as this is the only way that services will be improved while also becoming cost effective (Okpala, 2018).

In the UK, 20-25% of new cancer diagnoses are made following an initial presentation to the ED (Young et al., 2016). Cancer-related attendances at ED had a higher level of acuity, requiring longer management time and length of stay in ED. With cancer care contributing to 12% of all hospital admissions, an increase of 25% over the past two decades (Kuo et al., 2017) the AOS will need continued collaboration between clinical staff, informatic managers, patients and all stakeholder organisations to continuously improve its services to be “fit for purpose”.

This case study reports the innovative collaborative work between a Medical Oncologist, an NHS Trust Informatics manager and a QI academic facilitator. The Health Foundation and Kings Fund have identified the continued challenges presented to the NHS in the transformation of its services, with the Health Foundation (2011) reporting the need for more collaborative working between clinicians and non-clinicians to drive improvement. This model of collaboration creates a new way of working to drive improvement initiatives and sets out a rationale to develop this model further to involve patients. However, this will call for a new way of working for all.

Emergency medicine can save lives and in 2018 the World Health Assembly passed resolution 72.16 ensuring the role of emergency care in all health systems. With a continued global shortage of emergency physicians, with many low-medium-income countries (LMIC) still to develop emergency medicine as a speciality, the role of emergency nurses is critical to deliver the WHO Emergency Care System Framework (WHO, 2018). Emergency medicine doctors play a critical role in collaborating with nurses, in emergency medicine where nurses are often the first clinicians are often the first clinicians to interact with patients in emergency care settings, making up the majority of health-care professionals in LMIC (Mamalelala, 2024). Yet emergency nursing has yet to become established in Nepal, where nurses are often recruited to emergency departments, without having received any training in emergency or critical care treatment and management. The purpose of this paper is to outline a collaborative leadership approach to co-design an airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure (ABCDE) structured approach to an emergency nursing training module designed for nurses to feel empowered in the emergency department and to report on its findings.

This study draws upon mixed methodology research, enrolling 30 nurses (n = 30) from an emergency department in a tertiary hospital in Nepal through three stages of the project: Stage 1: training module co-design, collaborative leadership exploring the rationale for a training module and core features of design based on the ABCDE of emergency medicine; Stage 2: quantitative data were collected to assess baseline pre- and post-intervention knowledge and follow-up knowledge assessment at 30 and 45 days; Stage 3: qualitative data were collected with 24/30 (80%) nurses to evaluate the impact and application of the nurses ABCDE learning 7 months post-training. The qualitative survey was undertaken using online Google Forms.

Nurses were fully engaged in the co-design and collaboration of the development of an ABCDE training module which was delivered over 3 h. Full engagement was secured from all nurses in the department, and there were statistically significant advances in ABCDE emergency knowledge from the baseline, however, this knowledge began to decrease at 30 and 45 days. A follow-up qualitative survey was distributed to nurses seven months after training with an 80% return rate, which reported a range of examples of how nurses were continuing to apply their learning in practice.

This training module for emergency nurses was designed collaboratively from the “bottom up” in a tertiary hospital in Nepal, recognising the need to develop emergency nursing in the emergency department. The data revealed promising findings, while knowledge decreased from the post-training questionnaire, qualitative evidence revealed significant changes in practice, with the greatest reported change in the management of the airway. While this training module has made a difference in the quality of care provided, there is a need for a country-wide strategy in this area otherwise it is likely that such an initiative will only be developed by hospitals at a local level (Lecky, 2014). Education and training initiatives for nurses that focus on an evidence-based approach to clinical practice can bridge the workforce gap in the short term, however, the Government of Nepal must decide on establishing a recognised post-graduate sub-specialty in emergency nursing, the duration of training, who should be trained and what curriculum should be followed (Lecky, 2014).

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise a research study to examine leadership as a relational concept between leaders and followers. The context is within surgical practice examining how motivated consultant surgeons are to lead junior doctors and which type of leadership style they use. From a follower perspective, the motivation of junior doctors will be explored, and their leadership preferences will be correlated with those of the actual style of consultant surgeons.

In this paper, the authors provide a detailed description of the methods for an international quantitative research study, exploring sequentially how motivated consultant surgeons are to lead and how leadership styles impact on the motivation of junior doctors. The objectives, method and data collection of this study are explained, and the justification for each method is described.

The findings for this outline study illustrate how critical it is to redefine leadership as a relational concept of leader and follower to ensure adequate support is provided to the next generation of consultant surgeons. Without consideration of the relational model of leadership, attrition will continue to be a critical issue in the medical workforce.

The research limitations are that this is a proposed quantitative study due to the need to collect a large sample of data from surgeons across the UK, Egypt and Germany. This research will have immense implications in developing new knowledge of leadership as a relational concept in medicine and healthcare. This study additionally will impact on how leadership is conceptualised in the curriculum for specialist surgical practice.

The practical implications are that relational leadership is supportive of generating a supportive leadership culture in the workplace and generating more effective teamwork.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to look at a relational model of leadership in surgical practice between consultant surgeons and surgical trainees. This study will also identify any specific country differences between the UK, Germany and Egypt.

The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualise the hot debrief process after cardiac arrest as a collaborative and distributed process across the multi-disciplinary team. There are multiple benefits to hot debriefs but there are also barriers to its implementation. Facilitating the hot debrief discussion usually falls within the remit of the physician; however, the American Heart Association suggests “a facilitator, typically a health-care professional, leads a discussion focused on identifying ways to improve performance”. Empowering nurses through a distributed leadership approach supports the wider health-care team involvement and facilitation of the hot debrief process, while reducing the cognitive burden of the lead physician.

A mixed-method approach was taken to evaluate the experiences of staff in the Emergency Department (ED) to identify their experiences of hot debrief after cardiac arrest. There had been some staff dissatisfaction with the process with reports of negative experiences of unresolved issues after cardiac arrest. An audit identified zero hot debriefs occurring in 2019. A quality Improvement project (Model for Healthcare Improvement) used four plan do study act cycles from March 2020 to September 2021, using two questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to engage the team in the design and implementation of a hot debrief tool, using a distributed leadership approach.

The first survey (n = 78) provided a consensus to develop a hot debrief in the ED (84% in the ED; 85% in intensive care unit (ICU); and 92% from Acute Medicine). Three months after implementation of the hot debrief tool, 5 out of 12 cardiac arrests had a hot debrief, an increase of 42% in hot debriefs from a baseline of 0%. The hot debrief started to become embedded in the ED; however, six months on, there were still inconsistencies with implementation and barriers remained. Findings from the second survey (n = 58) suggest that doctors may not be convinced of the benefits of the hot debrief process, particularly its benefits to improve team performance and nurses appear more invested in hot debriefs when compared to doctors.

There are existing hot debrief tools; for example, STOP 5 and Take STOCK; however, creating a specific tool with QI methods, tailored to the specific ED context, is likely to produce higher levels of multi-disciplinary team engagement and result in distributed roles and responsibilities. Change is accepted when people are involved in the decisions that affect them and when they have the opportunity to influence that change. This approach is more likely to be achieved through distributed leadership rather than from more traditional top-down hierarchical leadership approaches.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to integrate Royal College Quality Improvement requirements with a collaborative and distributed medical leadership approach, to steer a change project in the implementation of a hot debrief in the ED. EDs need to create a continuous quality improvement culture to support this integration of leadership and QI methods combined, to drive and sustain successful change in distributed leadership to support the implementation of clinical protocols across the multi-disciplinary team in the ED.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the dynamics of “identity leadership” with a quality improvement project undertaken by an International Medical Graduate (IMG) from Sri Lanka, on a two year Medical Training Initiative (MTI) placement in the National Health Service (NHS) [Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), 2017]. A combined MTI rotation with an integrated Fellowship in Quality Improvement (Subedi et al., 2019) provided the driver to implement the HEART score (HS) in an NHS Emergency Department (ED) in the UK. The project was undertaken across ED, Acute Medicine and Cardiology at the hospital, with stakeholders emphasizing different and conflicting priorities to improve the pathway for chest pain patients.

A social identity approach to leadership provided a framework to understand the insider/outsider approach to leadership which helped RH to negotiate and navigate the conflicting priorities from each departments’ perspective. A staff survey tool was undertaken to identify reasons for the lack of implementation of a clinical protocol for chest pain patients, specifically with reference to the use of the HS. A consensus was reached to develop and implement the pathway for multi-disciplinary use of the HS and a quality improvement methodology (with the use of plan do study act (PDSA) cycles) was used over a period of nine months.

The results demonstrated significant improvements in the reduction (60%) of waiting time by chronic chest pain patients in the ED. The use of the HS as a stratified risk assessment tool resulted in a more efficient and safe way to manage patients. There are specific leadership challenges faced by an MTI doctor when they arrive in the NHS, as the MTI doctor is considered an outsider to the NHS, with reduced influence. Drawing upon the Social Identity Theory of Leadership, NHS Trusts can introduce inclusion strategies to enable greater alignment in social identity with doctors from overseas.

More than one third of doctors (40%) in the English NHS are IMGs and identify as black and minority ethnic (GMC, 2019a) a trend that sees no sign of abating as the NHS continues its international medical workforce recruitment strategy for its survival (NHS England, 2019; Beech et al., 2019). IMGs can provide significant value to improving the NHS using skills developed from their own health-care system. This paper recommends a need for reciprocal learning from low to medium income countries by UK doctors to encourage the development of an inclusive global medical social identity.

This quality improvement research combined with identity leadership provides new insights into how overseas doctors can successfully lead sustainable improvement across different departments within one hospital in the NHS.

National Health Service (NHS) Emergency Department (ED) attendances are at the second highest level ever recorded, (RCEM, 2021a) and as they soar, performance plummets, putting patient safety at risk (RCEM, 2021b). Managing patient flow in the ED is critical to reduce patient safety incidents and crowding, however, this needs effective leadership (Jensen and Crane, 2014). This paper aims to introduce an innovative form of managing patient flow in ED, which is a two hourly “Board Rounds”, providing a managed process to pull patients through the system meeting pre-determined time critical standards and preventing patient harm. Board Rounds combined with effective leadership can play a contributory role preventing crowding in the ED.

An evaluation of two hourly ED Board Rounds was undertaken using the hospitals’ ED Board Round Standard Operating Procedure to develop a series of short questions. As leadership is the responsibility of all clinicians (Darzi, 2008; Moscrop, 2012), a separate survey was undertaken for clinicians of all grades and managers to self-assess their own leadership styles using the Path-Goal Leadership Theory (House and Mitchell, 1974; Indvik, 1985; Northhouse, 2013). Findings were reported to the team to explore ideas for improvement not only to develop more effective leadership in the ED but also to raise awareness of how to optimise leadership in Board Rounds.

In total, 27 (n = 27) clinicians and managers reported support for a 2 hourly Board Round, for a period of 15 min, in both minor and major injuries departments in ED. A multi-disciplinary Board meeting, led by the lead nurse with support from the Emergency Physician in Charge, was preferred, locating it at the nurse’s station. A validated Path-Goal Leadership survey instrument was returned (n = 24). The findings reveal that leaders and managers are using a high level of the directive leadership style, where there is more potential to use the supportive, participative and achievement approaches to leadership.

This was a small sample, returned from a Hospital ED located in a semi-rural location, department requiring “improvement” from the Health Regulator. This research would benefit from being undertaken in a medium/large NHS ED department to identify if the findings report on a wider leadership culture in the NHS ED. The implications for this study are that improvement interventions such as a “Board Round” can be usefully evaluated alongside a review of leadership styles and approaches to understand the wider implications for continuous improvement and change in the ED.

NHS EDs are facing unprecedented challenges and require innovative evidence-based solutions combined with leadership at this time. The evidence base for improving patient flow is limited, however, this study provides some initial findings on the positive perception and experience of staff to Board Rounds. Board Rounds combined with leadership has the potential to contribute to the wider strategy to prevent crowding in ED. This paper is the first of its kind to evaluate perceptions of Board Rounds in the ED and to engage clinicians and managers in a self-assessment of their own leadership styles to reflect on optimum leadership styles for use in ED.

The purpose of this study was to explore which factors motivate doctors to engage in leadership roles and to frame an inquiry of self-assessment within Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to identify the extent to which a group of occupational health physicians (OHPs) was able to self-determine their leadership needs, using a National Health Service (NHS) England competency approach promoted by the NHS England Leadership Academy as a self-assessment leadership diagnostic. Medical leadership is seen as crucial to the transformation of health-care services, yet leadership programmes are often designed with a top-down and centrally commissioned “one-size-fits-all” approach. In the UK, the Smith Review (2015) concluded that more decentralised and locally designed leadership development programmes were needed to meet the health-care challenges of the future. However, there is an absence of empirical research to inform the design of effective strategies that will engage and motivate doctors to take up leadership roles, while at the same time, health-care organisations continue to develop formal leadership roles as a way to secure medical leadership engagement. The problem is further compounded by a lack of validated leadership qualities assessment instruments which support researching this problem.

The analysis draws on a sample of about 25 per cent of the total population size of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (n = 1,000). The questionnaire used was the Leadership Qualities Framework tool as a form of online self-assessment (NHS Leadership Academy, 2012). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and simple inferential methods.

OHPs are open about reporting their leadership strengths and leadership development needs and recognise leadership learning as an ongoing development need regardless of their level of personal competence. This study found that the single most important factor to affect a doctor’s confidence in leadership is their experience in a management role. In multivariate regression, management experience accounted for the usefulness of leadership training, suggesting that doctors learn best through applied “leadership learning” as opposed to theory-driven programmes. Drawing on SDT (Deci and Ryan, 1985; 2000; Ryan and Deci, 2000), this article provides a theoretical framework that helps to understand those doctors who are likely to engage in leadership and management activities in the organisation. More choice and self-determination of medical leadership programmes are likely to result in more relevant leadership learning that builds on doctors’ previous experience in this area.

While this study benefitted from a large sample size, it was limited to the use of purely quantitative methods. Future studies would benefit from the application of a mixed methodology to combine quantitative data with one-to-one interviews or a focus group.

This study suggests that doctors are able to determine their own learning needs reliably and that they are more likely to increase their confidence in leadership and management if they are exposed to leadership and management experience.

This is the first large-scale study of this kind with a large sample within a single medical specialty. The study is considered as insider research, as the first author is an OHP with knowledge of how to engage OHPs in this work.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the “Hybrid” “International” Emergency Medicine (HIEM) programme, which is an ethical pathway for the recruitment, employment and training of Emergency Medicine doctors; with a rotation through the NHS on a two-year medical training initiative with a Tier 5 visa, “earn, learn and return” programme. The HIEM programme offers an advantage to the Tier 2 visa by combining training, education and employment resulting in new learning to help improve the health system in Nepal and provide continued cultural support, clinical and leadership development experience in the UK NHS. Finally, this programme also provides a Return on Investment to the NHS.

A shortage of doctors in the UK, combined with a need to develop Emergency Medicine doctors in Nepal, led to a UK Emergency Medicine Physician (PS) to facilitate collaboration between UK/Nepal partners. A mapping exercise of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine curriculum with the competencies for the health system and quality improvement leaders and partners with patients produced a “HIEM programme”. The HIEM programme aims to develop first-class doctors to study in Emergency Departments in the UK NHS while also building trainee capability to improve the health system in Nepal with a research thesis.

The HIEM programme has 12 doctors on its programme across years one and two, with the first six doctors working in the UK NHS and progressing well. There are reports of high levels of satisfaction with the trainees in their transition from Nepal to the UK and the hospital is due to save £720,000 (after costs) over two years. Each trainee will earn £79,200 over two years which is enough to pay back the £16,000 cost for the course fees. Nepal as a country will benefit from the HIEM programme as each trainee will submit a health system improvement Thesis.

The HIEM programme is in its infancy as it is two years through a four-year programme. Further evaluation data are required to assess the full impact of this programme. In addition, the HIEM programme has only focussed on the development of one medical speciality which is Emergency Medicine. Further research is required to evaluate the impact of this model across other medical and surgical specialties.

The HIEM programme has exciting potential to support International Medical Graduates undertake a planned programme of development while they study in the UK with a Tier 5 visa. IMGs require continuous support while in the UK and are required to demonstrate continued learning through continuous professional development (CPD). The HIEM programme offers an opportunity for this CPD learning to be structured, meaningful and progressive to enable new learning. There is also specific support to develop academic and research skills to undertake a thesis in an area that requires health system improvement in Nepal.

This is the first time an integrated clinical, leadership, quality improvement and patient partnership model curriculum has been developed. The integrated nature of the curriculum saves precious time, money and resources. The integrated nature of this “hybrid” curriculum supports the development of an evidence-based approach to generating attitudes of collaboration, partnership and facilitation and team building in medical leadership with patient engagement. This “hybrid” model gives hope for the increased added value of the programme at a time of global austerity and challenges in healthcare.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) trauma care checklist (TCC) (WHO, 2016) in an emergency department in a tertiary hospital in Nepal. This research was undertaken as part of a Hybrid International Emergency Medicine Fellowship programme (Subedi et al., 2020) across UK and Nepal, incorporating a two-year rotation through the UK National Health Service, via the Medical Training Initiative (MTI) (AoMRC, 2017). The WHO TCC can improve outcomes for trauma patients (Lashoher et al., 2016); however, significant barriers affect its implementation worldwide (Nolan et al., 2014; Wild et al., 2020). This article reports on the implementation, barriers and recommendations of WHO TCC implementation in the context of Nepal and argues for Transformational Leadership (TL) to support its implementation.

Explanatory mixed methods research (Creswell, 2014), comprising quasi-experimental research and a qualitative online survey, were selected methods for this research. A training module was designed and implemented for 10 doctors and 15 nurses from a total of 76 (33%) of clinicians to aid in the introduction of the WHO TCC in an emergency department in a hospital in Nepal. The quasi-experimental research involved a pre- and post-training survey aimed to assess participant’s knowledge of the WHO TCC before and after training and before the implementation of the WHO TCC in the emergency department. Post-training, 219 patients were reviewed after four weeks to identify if process measures had improved the quality of care to trauma patients. Subsequently six months later, a qualitative online survey was sent to all clinical staff in the department to identify barriers to implementation, with a response rate of 26 (n = 26) (34%) (20 doctors and 6 nurses). Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate quantitative data and the qualitative data were analysed using the five stepped approach of thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

The evaluation of the implementation of the WHO TCC showed an improvement in care for trauma patients in an emergency setting in a tertiary hospital in Nepal. There were improvements in the documentation in trauma management, showing the training had a direct impact on the quality of care of trauma patients. Notably, there was an improvement in cervical spine examination from 56.1% before training to 78.1%; chest examination 125 (57.07%) before training and 170 (77.62%) post-training; abdominal examination 121 (55.25%) before training and 169 (77.16%) post-training; gross motor examination 13 (5.93%) before training and 131 (59.82%) post-training; sensory examination 4 (1.82%) before training and 115 (52.51%) post-training; distal pulse examination 6 (2.73%) before training and 122 (55.7%) post-training. However, while the quality of documentation for trauma patients improved from the baseline of 56%, it only reached 78% when the percentage improvement target agreed for this research project was 90%. The 10 (n = 10) doctors and 15 (n = 15) nurses in the Emergency Department (ED) all improved their baseline knowledge from 72.2% to 87% (p = 0.00006), by 14.8% and 67% to 85%) (p = 0.006), respectively. Nurses started with lower scores (mean 67) in the baseline when compared to doctors, but they made significant gains in their learning post-training. The qualitative data reported barriers, such as the busyness of the department, with residents and medical officers, suggesting a shortened version of the checklist to support greater protocol compliance. Embedding this research within TL provided a steer for successful innovation and change, identifying action for sustaining change over time.

The study is a single-centre study that involved trauma patients in an emergency department in one hospital in Nepal. There is a lack of internationally recognised trauma training in Nepal and very few specialist trauma centres; hence, it was challenging to teach trauma to clinicians in a single 1-h session. High levels of transformation of health services are required in Nepal, but the sample for this research was small to test out and pilot the protocol to gain wider stakeholder buy in. The rapid turnover of doctors and nurses in the emergency department, creates an additional challenge but encouraging a multi-disciplinary approach through TL creates a greater chance of sustainability of the WHO TCC.

International protocols are required in Nepal to support the transformation of health care. This explanatory mixed methods research, which is part of an International Fellowship programme, provides evidence of direct improvements in the quality of patient care and demonstrates how TL can drive improvement in a low- to medium-income country.

The Nepal/UK Hybrid International Emergency Medicine Fellowships have an opportunity to implement changes to the health system in Nepal through research, by bringing international level standards and protocols to the hospital to improve the quality of care provided to patients.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research paper is one of the first studies of its kind to demonstrate direct patient level improvements as an outcome of the two-year MTI scheme.

This paper aims to report on research undertaken in an National Health Service (NHS) emergency department in the north of England, UK, to identify which patients, with which clinical conditions are returning to the emergency department with an unscheduled return visit (URV) within seven days. This paper analyses the data in relation to the newly introduced Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). The continued upward increase in demand for emergency care services requires a new type of “upstreamist”, health system leader from the emergency department, who can report on URV data to influence the development of integrated care services to reduce further demand on the emergency department.

Patients were identified through the emergency department symphony data base and included patients with at least one return visit to emergency department (ED) within seven days. A sample of 1,000 index visits between 1 January 2019–31 October 2019 was chosen by simple random sampling technique through Excel. Out of 1,000, only 761 entries had complete data in all variables. A statistical analysis was undertaken using Poisson regression using NCSS statistical software. A review of the literature on integrated health care and its relationship with health systems leadership was undertaken to conceptualise a new type of “upstreamist” system leadership to advance the integration of health care.

Out of all 83 variables regressed with statistical analysis, only 12 variables were statistically significant on multi-variable regression. The most statistically important factor were patients presenting with gynaecological disorders, whose relative rate ratio (RR) for early-URV was 43% holding the other variables constant. Eye problems were also statistically highly significant (RR = 41%) however, clinically both accounted for just 1% and 2% of the URV, respectively. The URV data combined with “upstreamist” system leadership from the ED is required as a critical mechanism to identify gaps and inform a rationale for integrated care models to lessen further demand on emergency services in the ED.

At a time of significant pressure for emergency departments, there needs to be a move towards more collaborative health system leadership with support from statistical analyses of the URV rate, which will continue to provide critical information to influence the development of integrated health and care services. This study identifies areas for further research, particularly for mixed methods studies to ascertain why patients with specific complaints return to the emergency department and if alternative pathways could be developed. The success of the Esther model in Sweden gives hope that patient-centred service development could create meaningful integrated health and care services.

This research was a large-scale quantitative study drawing upon data from one hospital in the UK to identify risk factors for URV. This quality metric can generate important data to inform the development of integrated health and care services. Further research is required to review URV data for the whole of the NHS and with the new Integrated Health and Care Boards, there is a new impetus to push for this metric to provide robust data to prioritise the need to develop integrated services where there are gaps.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large-scale study of its kind to generate whole hospital data on risk factors for URVs to the emergency department. The URV is an important global quality metric and will continue to generate important data on those patients with specific complaints who return back to the emergency department. This is a critical time for the NHS and at the same time an important opportunity to develop “Esther” patient-centred approaches in the design of integrated health and care services.