Trial outcomes (paired services)
| Ambulance service | GP out-of-hours | Urgent care centre | Care home | Minor injury unit | Overall | |||||||
| Intervention (n=593) | Control (n=514) | Intervention (n=713) | Control (n=875) | Intervention (n=490) | Control (n=714) | Intervention (n=256) | Control (n=201) | Intervention (n=226) | Control (n=719) | Intervention (n=2278) | Control (n=3023) | |
| Primary outcomes | ||||||||||||
| Discharged n (%) | 257 (43.3) | 34 (6.6) | 506 (71.0) | 778 (88.9) | 345 (70.4) | 585 (81.9) | 126 (49.2) | 25 (12.4) | 119 (52.7) | 390 (54.2) | 1353 (59.4) | 1812 (59.9) |
| Difference (99% CI) | 36.7% (30.8% to 42.7%) | −17.9% (−23.1% to −12.8%) | −11.5% (−18.0% to −5.1%) | 36.8% (26.7% to 46.8%) | −1.6% (−11.4% to 8.2%) | 2.9% (−0.2% to 5.9%) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=99.1%, p<0.001 | |||||||||||
| Referred hospital n (%) | 251 (42.3) | 476 (92.6) | 122 (17.1) | 94 (10.7) | 22 (4.5) | 41 (5.7) | 58 (22.7) | 176 (87.6%) | 54 (23.9) | 53 (7.4) | 507 (22.3) | 840 (27.8) |
| Difference (95% CI) | −50.3% (−54.9% to −45.7%) | 6.4% (2.9% to 9.8%) | −1.3% (−3.8% to 1.3%) | −64.9% (−71.8% to −58.0%) | 16.5% (10.6% to 22.4%) | −18.6 (−44.3% to 7.1%) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=99.5, p<0.001 | |||||||||||
| Referred primary care n (%) | 85 (14.3) | 4 (0.8) | 85 (11.9) | 3 (0.3) | 123 (25.1) | 88 (12.3) | 72 (28.1) | 0 (0) | 53 (23.5) | 276 (38.4) | 418 (18.3) | 371 (12.3) |
| Difference (95% CI) | 13.6% (10.6% to 16.5%) | 11.6% (9.2% to 14.0%) | 12.8% (8.2% to 17.3%) | 28.1% (22.6% to 33.7%) | −14.9% (−21.5% to −8.4%) | 10.4% (1.6% to 19.3%) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=96.2, p<0.001 | |||||||||||
| Secondary outcomes | ||||||||||||
| Intervention (n=472) | Control (n=550) | Intervention (n=727) | Control (n=889) | Intervention (n=526) | Control (n=764) | Intervention (n=261) | Control (n=201) | Intervention (n=226) | Control (n=741) | Intervention (n=2212) | Control (n=3145) | |
| Any investigation n (%) | 44 (9.3) | 1 (0.2) | 123 (16.9) | 63 (7.1) | 83 (15.8) | 151 (19.8) | 5 (1.9) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.4) | 274 (37.0) | 256 (11.6) | 489 (15.5) |
| Difference (95% CI) | 9.1% (6.5% to 11.8%) | 9.8% (6.6% to 13.0%) | −4.0% (−8.2% to 0.2%) | 1.9% (0.0% to 3.8%) | −36.5% (−40.1% to −33.0%) | −3.9% (−18.2% to 10.4%) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=99.2, p<0.001 | |||||||||||
| Any treatment n (%) | 188 (39.8) | 4 (0.7) | 423 (58.2) | 498 (56.0) | 242 (46.0) | 543 (71.0) | 72 (27.6) | 0 (0) | 89 (39.4) | 349 (47.1) | 1014 (45.8) | 1394 (44.3) |
| Difference (95% CI) | 39.1% (34.7% to 43.6%) | 2.2% (−2.7% to 7.0%) | −25.1% (−30.4% to −19.7%) | 27.6% (22.1% to 33.0%) | −7.7% (−15.0% to −0.4%) | 7.3% (−16.6% to 31.1%) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=991, p<0.001 | |||||||||||
| Median (IQR) episode time (mins) | 67 (47, 92) | 48 (35, 62) | 87 (67, 116) | 146 (108, 210) | 35 (20, 57) | 41 (22, 70) | 60 (40, 80) | 39 (29, 58) | 23 (17, 30) | 29 (19, 50) | 61 (35, 90) | 53 (29108) |
| Time ratio (95% CI) | 1.41 (1.32 to 1.50) | 0.60 (0.56 to 0.64) | 0.86 (0.79 to 0.94) | 1.36 (1.24 to 1.49) | 0.76 (0.68 to 0.84) | 0.92 (0.89 to 0.95) | ||||||
| Heterogeneity | I2=99.1, p<0.001 | |||||||||||