Determining the true burden of general practice patients in the emergency department: The need for robust methodology

EMA - Emergency Medicine Australasia

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 116-119

  Nagree, Yusuf ^a,b   Mountain, David ^b   Cameron, Peter ^e   Fatovich, Daniel ^b,c   Mccarthy, Sally ^d,f  

^a FREMANTLE HOSPITAL   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA   (Australia)

^c UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA   (Australia)

^d NSW Emergency Care Institute   (Australia)

^e MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^f Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Melbourne   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EDITORIAL; EMERGENCY WARD; GENERAL PRACTICE; HOSPITAL ADMISSION; HUMAN; MEDICAL DECISION MAKING; MEDICAL SOCIETY; METHODOLOGY; PATIENT ASSESSMENT; PRIORITY JOURNAL;

AUSTRALIA; EMERGENCY SERVICE, HOSPITAL; GENERAL PRACTITIONERS; HUMANS; NEW SOUTH WALES; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; TRIAGE;

EID: 79954542985     PISSN: 17426731     EISSN: 17426723     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2011.01399.x     Document Type: Editorial

References (28)

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Hospital Statistics 2009-10: Emergency Department Care and Elective Surgery Waiting Times. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010.
2. Hamilton BA. Key Drivers of Demand in the Emergency Department: A Hypothesis Driven Approach to Analyse Demand and Supply. Sydney: NSW Department of Health, 2007.
3. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. Policy on the Australasian Triage Scale 2000. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
4. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, Jun 2010 2010. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
5. Richardson D, Mountain D. Access Block. Myths versus facts in emergency department overcrowding and hospital access block. Med. J. Aust. 2009; 190: 369-74.
6. Durand AC, Gentile S, Devictor B, Palazzolo S, Vignally P, Gerbeaux P etal. ED patients: how nonurgent are they? Systematic review of the emergency medicine literature. Am. J. Emerg. Med. 2011; 29(3): 333-45.
7. Sprivulis P. Estimation of the general practice workload of a metropolitan teaching hospital emergency department. Emerg. Med. (Fremantle) 2003; 15: 32-7.
8. Richardson D, Kelly AM, Kerr D. Prevalence of access block in Australia 2004-2008. Emerg. Med. Australas. 2009; 21: 472-8.
9. Richardson D. Early experiences of a Walk-in Centre. Abstracts of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. November 21-25, 2010. Canberra, ACT, Australia. Emerg. Med. Australas. 2011 Feb; 23 Suppl 1: 1-36.
10. Richardson DB. Increase in patient mortality at 10days associated with emergency department overcrowding. Med. J. Aust. 2006; 184: 213-16.
11. Sprivulis PC, Da Silva JA, Jacobs IG, Frazer AR, Jelinek GA. The association between hospital overcrowding and mortality among patients admitted via Western Australian emergency departments. Med. J. Aust. 2006; 184: 208-12.
12. Hoot NR, Aronsky D. Systematic review of emergency department crowding: causes, effects, and solutions. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2008; 52: 126-36.
13. Bunn F, Byrne G, Kendall S. The effects of telephone consultation and triage on healthcare use and patient satisfaction: a systematic review. Br. J. Gen. Pract. 2005; 55: 956-61.
14. Bunn F, Byrne G, Kendall S. Telephone consultation and triage: effects on health care use and patient satisfaction. Cochrane. Database Syst. Rev. 2004; (4): CD004180.
15. Sprivulis P, Carey M, Rouse I. Compliance with advice and appropriateness of emergency presentation following contact with the HealthDirect telephone triage service. Emerg. Med. Australas. 2004; 16: 35-40.
16. Leigh A, Brodtman G, Roxon N. GP Super Clinic for the ACT 2010. [Updated 11 Aug 2010; cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
17. Roxon N, D'ath Y. Work kicks off at Redcliffe GP Super Clinic 2010. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
18. New Zealand Press Association (NZPA). More Money Needed for Emergency Care - Doctor. NZPA; 2011. [Updated 23 Jan 2011; cited 19 Mar 2011.] Available from URL.
19. Council of Australian Governments. National Healthcare Agreement 2010. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
20. Abernethie L, Nagree Y. Increased emergency department attendance: a qualitative investigation of health seeking behaviours. Just Policy 2004; 33: 6-16.
21. Dent AW, Phillips GA, Chenhall AJ, McGregor LR. The heaviest repeat users of an inner city emergency department are not general practice patients. Emerg. Med. (Fremantle) 2003; 15: 322-9.
22. Fatovich DM, Nagree Y, Sprivulis P. Access block causes emergency department overcrowding and ambulance diversion in Perth, Western Australia. Emerg. Med. J. 2005; 22: 351-4.
23. Heyworth JR. Darzi centres. Flawed assumptions have hampered emergency care. BMJ 2010; 341: c6852.
24. Nagree Y, Ercleve TN, Sprivulis PC. After-hours general practice clinics are unlikely to reduce low acuity patient attendances to metropolitan Perth emergency departments. Aust. Health Rev. 2004; 28: 285-91.
25. Schull MJ, Kiss A, Szalai JP. The effect of low-complexity patients on emergency department waiting times. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2007; 49: 257-64, 64 e1.
26. Davies P. Darzi centres: an expensive luxury the UK can no longer afford? BMJ 2010; 341: c6287.
27. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. Fact Sheet re: Urban Emergency Services - ATS 4 and 5 Patients 2001. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.
28. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. ACEM Statement on Emergency Department Overcrowding 2009. [Cited 20 Jan 2011.] Available from URL.