Counter-referral in Emergency Care Units: discourse of the collective speech

To describe the facilities and difficulties of the counter-referral of an Emergency Care Unit in Santa Catarina State.

Descriptive, qualitative study, with the participation of three nurses and 17 physicians. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview and analyzed using the Discourse of the Collective Subject technique. For the theoretical basis, the Política Nacional de Atenção às Urgências (National Policy of Emergency Care) and the Rede de Atenção às Urgências (Network of Care to the Emergencies) was used.

The facilities of the counter-referral correspond to the strategies of communication with the Primary Care: embracement; good interpersonal relationships; and electronic medical record network. The difficulties are related to the deficiencies of Primary Care and specialized services, such as the insufficient number of physicians and the delay in scheduling consultations and more complex exams.

The difficulties highlighted indicate significant challenges of the local health system in the search for integration between emergency care points.