[337 home calls during daytime from the emergency medical center in Oslo]

Few studies have addressed physicians' home calls in Norway. The aim of this study is to analyse home calls during daytime in Oslo in relation to patients (age, sex, district), diagnoses, request procedures, and clinical outcome.

General practitioners in the City of Oslo emergency medical centre recorded their home calls during three months using a standardised form.

Calls to 337 patients (mean age 70, median 77 years; two thirds females; seven to children below two years of age) were recorded. The home calls were requested by relatives (36%), the patients themselves (32%), community care nurses (11%), and nursing homes (7%). The assessments made by the operators of the medical emergency telephone were generally correct. Physicians reported 77% full and 20% partial match between reported and found medical problem. The physicians assessed that 22% of the patients would have been able to go and see a doctor. 39% of all patients were admitted to hospital, 34 % needed ambulance transportation. The admitting GPs received hospital reports only after 27% of admissions.

Access to acute home calls by a physician during daytime is a necessary function in an urban public health service.