To ED or not to ED: NHS 24 referrals to the emergency department

This study aimed to compare the opinions of consultants in emergency medicine and general practitioners (GPs) on the appropriateness of NHS 24 referrals to the emergency department (ED).

170 NHS 24 referrals to the ED were reviewed by six GPs and six emergency consultants who were asked their opinion as to which out-of-hours service would be most appropriate for the patient. Modal responses from both groups were calculated for each referral. Consensus within groups and levels of agreement were calculated.

Modal responses agreed with an ED disposal in 59.2% of cases in the emergency consultant group with a 90% consensus rate. The GP group agreed with an ED disposal in only 47% of cases with a 75.9% consensus rate. A primary care referral response was the mode in 20.8% of the emergency consultant group compared with 35.7% in the GP group. Consensus was reached in 76.3% of the emergency consultant responses and 81.7% of GP responses. The difference in opinion between the two study groups was statistically significant.

GPs and consultants in emergency medicine both believe a high proportion of NHS 24 referrals to the ED should be handled by primary care services. This would suggest that, compared with previous out-of-hours practice, NHS 24 favours an ED outcome. The results indicate a large proportion of primary care patients are being handled inappropriately and uneconomically in the ED setting. There is a need for ongoing improvement of the telephone triage service provided by NHS 24.