CJEM Articles: Gordon Brannan

Objectives: To explore the public's expectations of emergency department care and to compare these with emergency department staff perceptions of patient expectations.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with the residents of Calgary, Alta., and with emergency department staff in the Calgary Health Region. Both recent users of the emergency department and people who had not used the emergency department in the past 3 years were included in this study. An experienced moderator conducted the focus groups, which were taped and then transcribed. A well established method of qualitative analysis identified common themes.

Results: The focus groups identified common expectations of emergency department care. Public expectations were categorized into 6 thematic areas: staff communication with patients, appropriate waiting times, the triage process, information management, quality of care, and improvements to existing services. Those who had recently used the emergency department had similar expectations to those who had not. Emergency department care providers understand some, but not all, of the public's expectations.

Conclusions: Public expectations of emergency department care were identified by this study. The findings are important for quality improvement initiatives and were used to develop a quantitative questionnaire.