Citation

Davison AG, Hildrey AC, Floyer MA. J. R. Soc. Med. 1983; 76(1): 37-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, Royal Society of Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

6827496

PMCID

PMC1438564

Abstract

A study was made of all 587 new patients attending an accident and emergency department in the East End of London during one week. Two hundred and twenty-six (39%) cases were not accidents or emergencies; of these, 67% were self-referrals who had not previously seen their general practitioner (GP) and 21% were self-referrals who had previously seen their GP. The four main reasons that these self-referred patients had for attending were that they thought their condition needed immediate attention; they were insufficiently organized to see their GP; they were not registered with a GP; or they wanted a second opinion. Twenty-eight (12%) of the cases which were not accidents or emergencies were referred by a GP. Sixty-nine (12%) of all cases were not registered with a GP. The frequency of cases who were not accidents or emergencies was significantly higher in those not registered than in those registered (0.01 greater than P greater than 0.001). Nineteen (3%) patients were living rough or in hostels. Little abuse of the ambulance service was found.

Language: en