Question 1

Who should run this audit?

Accepted Answer

Doctors, IMTs, registrars, QI fellows, emergency and acute medicine nurses, SDEC teams, patient flow leads and pharmacists are all well placed to run this audit. Include a named project lead, a consultant supervisor, an SDEC clinical lead, an ED streaming lead and a nursing lead where possible.

Question 2

What permissions do I need?

Accepted Answer

Most trusts treat this as clinical audit / service evaluation and do not require ethics approval, but you must register the project with your local clinical audit or governance team before starting. Use only pseudonymised identifiers — do not enter NHS numbers, hospital numbers, names or dates of birth.

Question 3

How do I sample?

Accepted Answer

Use consecutive adult (16 years and over) urgent or emergency care episodes over a defined period, for example one week per area. A sample of 30–50 per area gives a reasonable point estimate; 100 or more across the organisation supports comparison by referral route, pathway group and clinical area.

Question 4

What does the tool measure?

Accepted Answer

Whether SDEC suitability was considered against local inclusion and exclusion criteria, whether acuity and clinical stability were assessed, whether a senior decision-maker was involved, whether suitable patients were referred and accepted, whether diagnostics, treatment and pharmacy support were delivered the same day, and whether same-day discharge was achieved or the reason for admission was documented.

Question 5

What happens after data collection?

Accepted Answer

The dashboard updates in real time. Use the Findings tab to interpret results, the Improvement tab to plan actions and PDSA cycles, and the Export centre to generate editable Word, PowerPoint, Excel and ARCP evidence outputs.

Question 6

Do I need to sign in to see the tool?

Accepted Answer

No. Authentication is handled at the main Lazomis QI website. Inside the tool you will already be in your authenticated workspace, or in demo mode with clearly labelled sample data.