BACKGROUND Survival from early meningococcal disease might be improved if general practitioners followed guidelines by immediately administering parenteral antibiotics (before hospital referral). METHODS Structured telephone interviews with 20 GPs who had previously treated meningococcal cases. RESULTS General practitioners knew guideline recommendations for early management of meningococca...

background: medical error is defined as an adverse event caused by medical management, which can be prevented. the aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases made by health care practitioners. methods: a descriptive cross sectional study was done between apr. 2009 and mar.2010. 372 patients with oral and maxillofacial lesions who had referr...

Egg allergy is incorrectly considered to constitute a contraindication to MMR in the community, despite a long history of its safe administration to egg allergic children. The product insert perpetuates this misinformation but the Irish guidelines from the RCPI are unequivocal. We reviewed all paediatric cases vaccinated in our hospital in 2007-2008. Forty seven of 91 children receiving vaccina...

BACKGROUND In most low-income countries, many women with high-risk pregnancies and complications do not reach the referral hospitals despite the provision of referral advice. OBJECTIVE To explore how antenatal maternal referral advice is understood and handled in a rural Tanzanian community. METHODS Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with six women who did not go to hospital and ...

INTRODUCTION Palliative radiotherapy is effective in reducing symptom burden and improving quality of life in patients with symptomatic metastatic cancer and should be delivered in a timely manner. The aim of this study was to determine whether referring patients directly to a Palliative Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist (APRT) improves access to palliative radiotherapy and reduces time fro...