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Paediatric calls to an inner city accident and emergency department: service demand and advice given
Insights
Accident and Emergency (A & E) departments receive many calls about children. Most calls for pediatric patients under 5 years old result in self-care advice, highlighting a need for staff training.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Pediatric Care
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Patients frequently contact both Accident and Emergency (A & E) departments and General Practice for medical advice, particularly concerning children.
- Telephone consultations for pediatric issues within A & E departments are often handled informally by nursing staff.
- There is a significant demand for telephone advice services in healthcare settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the volume, nature, and outcomes of telephone calls concerning pediatric patients received by an inner-city A & E department.
- To understand the types of problems presented and the advice provided to callers.
- To inform strategies for improving telephone advisory services.
Main Methods:
- Data collection using a specifically developed Telephone Consultation Record (TCR) proforma.
- Documentation of all calls received by the A & E department during the study period.
- Analysis of call volume, patient demographics (age), presenting problems, and advice given.
Main Results:
- A total of 597 calls were documented, with 218 (37%) concerning pediatric patients.
- The majority of pediatric calls involved children under the age of 5.
- One-third of callers received self-care advice.
Conclusions:
- Accident and Emergency departments handle a substantial volume of pediatric telephone consultations.
- Self-care advice is a common outcome, suggesting potential for optimized resource allocation.
- A & E departments should assess telephone advice demand and implement staff training and support programs for this role.
Abstract:
Patients routinely call both Accident and Emergency (A & E) departments and General Practice for advice. Many of these calls concern children. In the UK, telephone calls for advise made to A & E departments are usually dealt with by nursing staff in an informal manner. This paper focuses on telephone calls concerning children received in a busy inner city department. Data were collected using a Telephone Consultation Record proforma (TCR) developed to document all calls to the A & E department. There were a total of 597 calls to the A & E department documented during the study period of which 218 (37%) concerned paediatric patients. The majority of calls were concerning children under the age of 5. One-third of callers were given self-care advice. This paper reports on the volume of calls, the nature of patients' problems and the outcome in terms of the advice given to the caller. The implications of the findings are discussed. Given the current demand for telephone advice, A & E departments should examine the nature and demand for telephone advice and explore methods of providing training and support to staff carrying out this role.