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In low-resource care settings, effective triage and flow of care are difficult to guarantee. In this study, we aimed to identify delays in the delivery of care to critically ill patients and possible ways to address these delays.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This was an exploratory qualitative study using in-depth interviews and patient journeys. The qualitative data were transcribed and aggregated into themes in NVivo V.12 Plus using inductive and deductive approaches.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study was conducted in four secondary-level public Kenyan hospitals across four counties between March and December 2021. The selected hospitals were part of the Clinical Information Network.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Purposive sampling method was used to identify administrative and front-line healthcare providers and patients. We conducted 12 in-depth interviews with 11 healthcare workers and patient journeys of 7 patients. Informed consent was sought from the participants and maintained throughout the study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We identified a cycle of suboptimal systems for care with adaptive mechanisms that prevent quality care to critically ill patients. We identified suboptimal systems for identification of critical illness, inadequate resources for continuity care and disruption of the flow of care, as the major causes of delays in identification and the initiation of essential care to critically ill patients. Our study also illuminated the contribution of inflexible bureaucratic non-clinical business-related organisational processes to third delay.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Eliminating or reducing delays after patients arrive at the hospital is a time-sensitive measure that could improve the care outcomes of critically ill patients. This is achievable through an essential emergency and critical care package within the hospitals. Our findings can help emphasise the need for standardised effective and reliable care priorities to maintain of care of critically ill patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-072341","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,10]],"date-time":"2024-01-10T00:31:55Z","timestamp":1704846715000},"page":"e072341","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Third delay in care of critically ill patients: a qualitative investigation of public hospitals in Kenya"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4045-857X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Onesmus O","family":"Onyango","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tamara M","family":"Willows","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jacob","family":"McKnight","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7904-1336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carl Otto","family":"Schell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"},{"name":"Centre for Clinical Research S\u00f6rmland, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Nyk\u00f6ping Hospital, Nyk\u00f6ping, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8727-7018","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tim","family":"Baker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"},{"name":"Ifakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK"},{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Muhimbili, Tanzania, United Republic Of"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elibariki","family":"Mkumbo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ifakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Maiba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ifakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Karima","family":"Khalid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ifakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of"},{"name":"Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7427-0826","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mike","family":"English","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya"},{"name":"Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4575-2447","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacquie N","family":"Oliwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121222195633000_14.1.e072341.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kayambankadzanja RK , Schell CO , Gerdin W\u00e4rnberg M , et al . 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