title: Young children in A&E: a local review.
abstract: Between two and three million children attend accident and emergency (A&E) departments every year in the United Kingdom, making up one quarter of all A&E attendances (Bentley 1996). Despite government, professional and consumer guidance (Audit Commission 1996, Action for Sick Children 1997), the majority of children are not seen in a children's A&E or cared for by appropriately-trained staff. This study explored the pattern of attendance of 375 children aged five years and under who attended the A&E department in a district general hospital. Issues of service provision and quality of care were also explored using secondary data from A&E records. Key findings were that one third of the children were triaged with non-urgent illness, suggesting a need for improved access to GP services and that a number of children were referred by GPs and admitted via A&E rather than directly to the paediatric ward. Although waiting times were generally short, many children did not appear to receive analgesia, suggesting the need for improved pain assessment and management.
authors.affiliation: University of Luton.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Simons
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D006113:United Kingdom; D014600:Utilization Review