Key characteristics of the three sites included in this study and annual emergency department attendance (attendance data drawn from the North East London Commissioning Support Unit32)
| Site | Average number of open general and acute inpatient beds during study period | Number of critical care beds | Number of adult beds, emergency department | Number of adult beds and chairs, clinical decision unit | Consultant staffing level | Emergency department attendances in the year 2012–2013 |
| Site 1 | 747 | 61 | 38 | 14 | 24 hours, on-site | 92 137 |
| Site 2 | 589 | 9 | 37 | 12 | 8:00 to midnight, 7 days a week | 70 144 |
| Site 3 | 452 | 7 | 23 | 25 | 8:00–20:30 weekdays 10:00–18:00 weekends | 55 866 |