Patients either contacting a general practice cooperative or accident and emergency department out of hours: a comparison.
BACKGROUND
Lack of collaboration between general practice (GP) cooperatives and accident and emergency (A&E) departments and many self referrals may lead to inefficient out-of-hours care.


METHODS
We retrospectively analysed the records of all patients contacting the GP cooperative and all patients self referring to the A&E department out of hours in a region in the Netherlands.


RESULTS
258 patients contacted the GP cooperative and 43 self referred to the A&E department per 1000 patients per year. A wide range of problems were seen in the GP cooperative, mainly related to infections (26.2%). The A&E department had a smaller range of problems, mainly related to trauma (66.1%). Relatively few urgent problems were seen in the GP cooperative (4.6%) or for self referrals in the A&E department (6.1%). Women, children, the elderly, and rural patients chose the GP cooperative significantly more often, as did men and patients with less urgent complaints, infections, and heart and airway problems.


CONCLUSIONS
The contact frequency of self referrals to the A&E department is much lower than that at the GP cooperative. Care is complementary: the A&E department focuses on trauma while the GP cooperative deals with a wide range of problems. The self referrals concern mostly minor, non-urgent problems and can generally be treated by the general practitioner, by a nurse, or by advice over the telephone, particularly in the case of optimal collaboration in an integrated care facility of GP cooperatives and A&E departments with one access point to medical care for all patients.
Giesen
P
P
Centre for Quality-of-Care Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, WOK 117, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. p.giesen@voha.umcn.nl
Franssen
E
E
Mokkink
H
H
van den Bosch
W
W
van Vugt
A
A
Grol
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology