The EDARA study

Evaluating the Diversion of Alcohol-Related Attendances.

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Background

This project evaluated the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and acceptability of Alcohol Intoxication Management Services (AIMS) in managing alcohol-related Emergency Departments’ attendances. AIMS is designed to receive, treat and monitor intoxicated patients who would normally attend Emergency Departments and to lessen the burden that alcohol misuse places on unscheduled care.

They are usually located close to areas characterised by excessive intoxication and are open at times when levels of intoxication peak (eg Friday and Saturday evenings). AIMS therefore offer the potential to mitigate some of the pressures on Emergency Departments as well as ambulance services and the police at times when there is a sustained increase in demand.

999EMS forum Advancing patient care: taking research to the front line (1 - 2 April 2019)

Poster presentation - audio description

Aims

The project aimed to

explore barriers and facilitators of AIMS implementation from the perspective of frontline staff by examining the impact of AIMS on the frontline work setting and on practitioners’ working lives
identify the key ingredients required for the successful implementation of AIMS in order to lead the co-production of guidance on AIMS development and implementation
establish the acceptability of AIMS to users
investigate how the implementation of AIMS affects Emergency Departments users’ experience
determine the effect of AIMS implementation on key performance indicators across health and ambulance services
consider secondary effects of AIMS implementation such as ambulance response times and reduction in violent assaults through increased police presence
identify set-up and running costs for AIMS, resolve costs by sector (health, ambulance and police), before, during and after AIMS setup, and quantify AIMS benefits in order to establish the cost-effectiveness of AIMS

Funding

The project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme. It started in January 2016 and ran for 30 months with £925,000 funding.

Staff

Name	Title	Organisation
Professor Simon Moore	Principal Investigator	School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Professor Davina Allen	Co-investigator	School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University
Professor Petra Meier	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Professor Steve Goodacre	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Professor Alan Brennan	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Professor Alicia O’Cathain	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Dr Vaseekaran Sivarajasingam	Co-investigator	School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Professor Jonathan Shepherd	Co-investigator	School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Dr Tracey Young	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Andy Irving	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Dr Penny F Buykx	Co-investigator	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Andy Irving	Project Manager	Divison of Population Health, University of Sheffield
Dr Yu-Chiao Wang	Project Manager	School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Clare Olson	Administrative Assistant	School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Joanne Blake	Research Associate	School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University