Paediatric readiness assessment tools in emergency care: a scoping review.

Abstract

To identify and compare paediatric emergency readiness assessment tools used in hospital-based emergency departments and to map their structural domains, scoring approaches and implementation characteristics across different healthcare settings. Scoping review conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). International literature describing paediatric emergency readiness assessment frameworks used in hospital-based emergency departments. CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric emergency readiness assessment tools demonstrate substantial international heterogeneity but converge around several core structural domains, particularly staffing, equipment and governance. Important system-level determinants of emergency care capacity, including infrastructure reliability, organisational culture and digital integration, are inconsistently represented. Greater harmonisation of core readiness domains may support international benchmarking while allowing contextual adaptation across health systems.