Reasons why patients with primary health care problems access a secondary hospital emergency centre

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dc.contributor.authorBecker, Juanitaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDell, Angelaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJenkins, Louisen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSayed, Raufen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2013-07-03T08:18:57Z
dc.date.available2013-07-03T08:18:57Z
dc.date.issued2012-10
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaen_ZA
dc.description.abstractBackground. Many patients present to an emergency centre (EC) with problems that could be managed at primary healthcare (PHC) level. This has been noted at George Provincial Hospital in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Aim. In order to improve service delivery, we aimed to determine the patient-specific reasons for accessing the hospital EC with PHC problems. Methods. A descriptive study using a validated questionnaire to determine reasons for accessing the EC was conducted among 277 patients who were triaged as green (routine care), using the South African Triage Score. The duration of the complaint, referral source and appropriateness of referral were recorded. Results. Of the cases 88.2% were self-referred and 30.2% had complaints persisting for more than a month. Only 4.7% of self-referred green cases were appropriate for the EC. The three most common reasons for attending the EC were that the clinic medicine was not helping (27.5%), a perception that the treatment at the hospital is superior (23.7%), and that there was no PHC service after-hours (22%). Conclusions. Increased acceptability of the PHC services is needed. The current triage system must be adapted to allow channelling of PHC patients to the appropriate level of care. Strict referral guidelines are needed.en_ZA
dc.format.extentp. 800-801
dc.identifier.citationBecker, J., Dell, A., Jenkins, L. & Sayed, R. 2012. Reasons why patients with primary health care problems access a secondary hospital emergency centre. South African Medical Journal, 102(10):800-801, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.6059.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2078-5135 (online)
dc.identifier.issn0256-2170 (print)
dc.identifier.issndoi:10.7196/SAMJ.6059
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/81587
dc.publisherHealth and Medical Publishing Group (HMPG)en_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyrighten_ZA
dc.subjectHospitals -- Emergency services -- South Africa -- Georgeen_ZA
dc.subjectPrimary health care -- South Africa -- Georgeen_ZA
dc.titleReasons why patients with primary health care problems access a secondary hospital emergency centreen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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