Manchester triage system 'a sensitive tool'.

The Manchester triage system (MTS) is now widely used in A&E departments in the UK. Researchers in Birmingham sought to determine whether the MTS can reliably detect those patients subsequently needing admission to critical care areas. Computerised records at City Hospital, Birmingham were analysed to retrieve all patients admitted from A&E to a critical care area (ICU, CCU or high dependency) in a one month period. The notes were compared with the original triage designation. Sixty one (67 per cent of the patients admitted to a critical care area were given triage category one or two (to be seen within 10 minutes of arrival). Eighteen cases given lower priority were due to incorrect coding by the triage nurse. Six cases were correctly coded by the MTS, of which five deteriorated after arrival in the A&E department.