[Telephone referrals to the emergency department behind a large part of the visits. 4 out of 5 have health care contact prior to visits to the emergency department]

Abstract

For unknown reasons, the number of visits to Swedish A&E Departments is on the increase. This study was designed to research whether patients had been in contact with the health service prior to their visit to the Örebro University Hospital A&E Department and if so, which part of the healthcare system. Our study revealed that 80% of patients had been in contact with the healthcare service prior to their visit, that referrals by telephone constituted a large proportion of visits and that the level of medical seriousness differed between the various methods of referral.