Paediatric emergency department referrals from primary care.

Turbitt, E; Freed, GL

Paediatric emergency department referrals from primary care.

Turbitt, E

Freed, GL

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Publisher:: CSIRO PUBLISHING
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Aust Health Rev, 2016, 40, (6), pp. 691-695
Issue Date:: 2016-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Turbitt, E https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6650-9702
dc.contributor.author	Freed, GL
dc.date.accessioned	2022-04-19T00:09:31Z
dc.date.available	2016-02-01
dc.date.available	2022-04-19T00:09:31Z
dc.date.issued	2016-01
dc.identifier.citation	Aust Health Rev, 2016, 40, (6), pp. 691-695
dc.identifier.issn	0156-5788
dc.identifier.issn	1449-8944
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/156376
dc.description.abstract	Background Over the last decade, paediatric referrals from general practitioners (GPs) to the emergency department (ED) have increased by 60% in Australia. Objective To investigate the characteristics of Victorian children referred by GPs to the ED with lower-urgency conditions. Method Data were collected from four hospital EDs in Victoria, May-November 2014. Parents attending the ED with their child triaged as lower urgency were surveyed. Descriptive, frequency, and bivariate analyses were performed. Results Of the 1150 responses, 28% (320) visited their GP before attending ED. Of these 66% (212), were referred by their GP. A greater proportion with injury than illness (84% vs 59%; P<0.0001) was referred to the ED if they had first visited their GP. Conclusion Motivations of GPs to send lower-urgency injured and ill children to ED are not well understood. The high number of referrals from GPs to the ED for lower urgency conditions suggests attention by policy makers and health professionals must be paid to the current patterns of care of children in general practice. What is known about the topic? Paediatric referrals in Australia from GPs to EDs have increased in the last decade, along with the absolute number of children in Victoria presenting to the ED. What does this paper add? A significant number of children (66%) who attend the GP before visiting the ED are referred to the ED for their lower urgency condition. What are the implications for practitioners? It may be appropriate for GPs to be further supported to manage lower urgency conditions, through better resources or education.
dc.format	Print
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	CSIRO PUBLISHING
dc.relation.ispartof	Aust Health Rev
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1071/AH15211
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1110 Nursing, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1605 Policy and Administration
dc.subject.classification	Public Health
dc.subject.mesh	Child
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool
dc.subject.mesh	Emergency Service, Hospital
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Health Services Accessibility
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Infant
dc.subject.mesh	Infant, Newborn
dc.subject.mesh	Motivation
dc.subject.mesh	Primary Health Care
dc.subject.mesh	Referral and Consultation
dc.subject.mesh	Victoria
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Motivation
dc.subject.mesh	Child
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool
dc.subject.mesh	Infant
dc.subject.mesh	Infant, Newborn
dc.subject.mesh	Emergency Service, Hospital
dc.subject.mesh	Referral and Consultation
dc.subject.mesh	Primary Health Care
dc.subject.mesh	Health Services Accessibility
dc.subject.mesh	Victoria
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.title	Paediatric emergency department referrals from primary care.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	40
utslib.location.activity	Australia
utslib.for	1110 Nursing
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health/GSH.Genetic Counselling
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-04-19T00:09:30Z
pubs.issue	6
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	40
utslib.citation.issue	6

Abstract:

Background Over the last decade, paediatric referrals from general practitioners (GPs) to the emergency department (ED) have increased by 60% in Australia. Objective To investigate the characteristics of Victorian children referred by GPs to the ED with lower-urgency conditions. Method Data were collected from four hospital EDs in Victoria, May-November 2014. Parents attending the ED with their child triaged as lower urgency were surveyed. Descriptive, frequency, and bivariate analyses were performed. Results Of the 1150 responses, 28% (320) visited their GP before attending ED. Of these 66% (212), were referred by their GP. A greater proportion with injury than illness (84% vs 59%; P<0.0001) was referred to the ED if they had first visited their GP. Conclusion Motivations of GPs to send lower-urgency injured and ill children to ED are not well understood. The high number of referrals from GPs to the ED for lower urgency conditions suggests attention by policy makers and health professionals must be paid to the current patterns of care of children in general practice. What is known about the topic? Paediatric referrals in Australia from GPs to EDs have increased in the last decade, along with the absolute number of children in Victoria presenting to the ED. What does this paper add? A significant number of children (66%) who attend the GP before visiting the ED are referred to the ED for their lower urgency condition. What are the implications for practitioners? It may be appropriate for GPs to be further supported to manage lower urgency conditions, through better resources or education.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/156376