A qualitative study of why general practitioners admit to community hospitals

Intermediate care, which is provided by community hospitals, is increasingly seen as one way of reducing pressure on secondary care. However, despite evidence of wide variation, there is little literature describing how general practitioners (GPs) use these hospitals. Because of the control they have over decisions to admit, development of these units depends on the cooperation of GPs.

To identify and understand the factors influencing the decision to admit to a community hospital.

A qualitative interview study.

Twenty-seven practitioners from ten practices supporting five community hospitals in one region of Tayside, Scotland Secondary support was identical for all sites.

In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of GPs representing those who had the most and the least use of the five community hospitals. A qualitative anaysis was performed to determine thefactors that practitioners considered important when making decisions about admission. Results were presented to the study group for validation.

All admissions required adequate capacity in the community hospital system. Primarily social admissions were straight forward requiring only adequate hospital nursing, and GP capacity. More typical admissions involving social and medical needs required consideration of the professional concerns and the personal influences on the doctor as well as the potential benefits to the patient. As medical complexity increased the doctor's comfort/discomfort became the deciding factor.

Provided there was adequate capacity, the GPs perceived the level of comfort to be the prime determinant of which patients are admitted to community hospitals and which are referred to secondary care.