Emergency department overcrowding, mortality and the 4‐hour rule in Western Australia

Objective: To assess whether emergency department (ED) overcrowding was reduced after the introduction of the 4-hour rule in Western Australia and whether any changes in overcrowding were associated with significant changes in patient mortality rates. Design, setting and patients: Quasi-experimental intervention study using dependent pretest and post-test samples. Hospital and patient data were obtained for three tertiary hospitals and three...