Reducing inappropriate A&E attendances.
نویسندگان
چکیده
over 10 years but were not performing well on ‘access’ because of a high number of patients who did not attend (DNA). We often had over 100 DNAs per month so many appointments were being wasted. I noticed that another local practice which permitted advance booking only 2 days ahead scored better in the ‘access’ survey than our practice. Another local practice was piloting a same day booking system with no appointments booked in advance, from June 2013. We calculated that we had nearly the correct number of GP and nurse appointments per 1000 patients, per week. The Local Medical Committee had advised 100 appointments per 1000 patients per week. We are an average size practice of 6400 patients. An audit of the DNAs in April 2013 showed that 80% of DNAs had booked more that 7 days previously, so we changed to a 1-week advance booking system from 1 July 2013 with 50% of appointments bookable in advance and 50% available on the day, for GP appointments but not nurse appointments. The ‘same day’ appointments were unblocked on the day at 8 am each morning to prevent them being booked online. A repeat audit of DNAs in October 2013 showed that 75% of patients who DNA had booked more than 3 days ahead so we have just changed to a similar 3-day booking system from Monday 9 December 2013. This has reduced our DNAs and reduced stress within the practice. Other practices in the UK may wish to consider these ideas. I have concluded that a 2–3 day advance booking system is the right one for our practice and will probably be optimal for most practices.
منابع مشابه
Reducing inappropriate emergency department attendances--a review of ambulance service attendances at a regional teaching hospital in Scotland.
INTRODUCTION Emergency Departments (ED) in the UK have seen increasing attendance rates in recent years. Departments are now seeking strategies to reduce their attendances. A review of all ambulance attendances to the ED at Ninewells Hospital was conducted to identify if patients presenting by ambulance could be seen and treated more appropriately in other parts of the health service. METHOD ...
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متن کاملWho uses emergency departments inappropriately and when - a national cross-sectional study using a monitoring data system
BACKGROUND Increasing pressures on emergency departments (ED) are straining services and creating inefficiencies in service delivery worldwide. A potentially avoidable pressure is inappropriate attendances (IA); typically low urgency, self-referred patients better managed by other services. This study examines demographics and temporal trends associated with IA to help inform measures to addres...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
دوره 64 619 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2014