Satisfaction with telephone advice from an accident and emergency department: identifying areas for service improvement.

Patel, Anita; Dale, Jeremy; Crouch, Robert

doi:10.1136/qshc.6.3.140

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…[1][2][3][4][5] Although computer-based ambulance triage systems safely triage patients into high-, medium-and low-acuity categories, the response is typically the same: an ambulance is dispatched. 6,7 With increasing sophistication of prehospital care, this 'one size fits all' response is becoming unsustainable and misallocates skilled resources to low-acuity patients, impacting on the availability and response times for more urgent cases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel approach for managing the growing demand for ambulance services by low-acuity patients

Eastwood¹,

Morgans²,

Smith³

et al. 2016

Aust. Health Review

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Objective. The aim of the present study was to describe the Ambulance Victoria (AV) secondary telephone triage service, called the Referral Service (RS), for low-priority patients calling triple zero. This service provides alternatives to ambulance dispatch, such as doctor or nurse home visits.Methods. A descriptive epidemiological review of all the cases managed between 2009 and 2012 was conducted, using data from AV case records, the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Cases were reviewed for patient demographics, condition, final disposition and RS outcome.Results. In all, 107 148 cases were included in the study, accounting for 10.3% of the total calls for ambulance attendance. Median patient age was 54 years and 55% were female. Geographically based socioeconomic status was associated with the rate of calls to the RS (r = -0.72; 95% confidence interval CI -0.104, -0.049; P < 0.001). Abdominal pain and back symptoms were the most common patient problems. Although 68% of patients were referred to the emergency department, only 27.6% of the total cases were by emergency ambulance; the remainder were diverted to non-emergency ambulance or the patient's own private transport. The remaining 32% of cases were referred to alternative service providers or given home care advice.Conclusions. This paper describes the use of an ongoing secondary triage service, providing an effective strategy for managing emergency ambulance demand.What is known about the topic? Some calls to emergency services telephone numbers for ambulance assistance consist of cases deemed to be low-acuity that could potentially be better managed in the primary care setting. The demand on ambulance resources is increasing each year. Secondary telephone triage systems have been trialled in ambulance services in the US and UK with minimal success in terms of overall impact on ambulance resourcing. What does this paper add? This study describes a model of secondary telephone triage in the ambulance setting that has provided an effective way to divert patients to more suitable forms of health care to meet their needs. What are the implications for practitioners? The implications for practitioners are vast. Some of the issues that currently face paramedics include: fatigue because of high workloads; skills decay because of a lack of exposure to patients requiring intervention with skills the paramedics have, as well as a lack of time for paramedics to practice these skills during their downtime; and decreasing job satisfaction linked to both these factors. Implications for patients include quicker response times because more ambulances will be available to respond and increased patient safety because of decreased fatigue and higher skill levels in paramedics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel approach for managing the growing demand for ambulance services by low-acuity patients

Eastwood¹,

Morgans²,

Smith³

et al. 2016

Aust. Health Review

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“…Telephone-based counseling is common because of accessibility; anonymity of the person who receives counseling is a good way to get information, advice, and support (Osman, Chaaya, Zein, Naassan, & Wick, 2010;Patel, Dale, & Crouch, 1997). Telephone-based counseling is common because of accessibility; anonymity of the person who receives counseling is a good way to get information, advice, and support (Osman, Chaaya, Zein, Naassan, & Wick, 2010;Patel, Dale, & Crouch, 1997).…”

Section: Please Scroll Down For Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Face-to face counseling is one of the most popular methods to educate and consult people in the health care system. Furthermore, telephone counseling could change care from being centered on hospitals to being centered on the community or client (Patel et al, 1997). In many advanced medical centers around the world, the telephone has been used for counseling to reduce unnecessary costs and to increase effectiveness of prevention and treatment (Huibers, Keizer, Giesen, Grol, & Wensing, 2012).…”

Section: Please Scroll Down For Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Face-to-Face With Telephone-Based Counseling on Sexual Satisfaction Among Reproductive Aged Women in Iran

Shoushtari

Afshari

Abedi

et al. 2014

Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy

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This study was designed to investigate and compare the effect of face-to-face with telephone-based counseling on sexual satisfaction in women of reproductive age in Iran. This study was a randomized controlled trial in which 46 married women who got married 1-5 years ago were randomly selected and assigned to 1 of 2 groups (face-to-face and telephone-based counseling). Two groups received counseling by a trained midwife once a week for 4 weeks. The sexual satisfaction (using the Sexual Satisfaction Index) score was calculated in the beginning of the study and after 4 weeks. An independent t test, chi-square test, likelihood ratio test, Fisher's exact test, and linear-by-linear test were used for analyzing data. The mean score of sexual satisfaction in the face-to-face group was 93.6 (SD = 7.1) and improved significantly to 108.08 (SD = 5.44) after intervention (p =.001). The mean score of sexual satisfaction in the telephone-based counseling was 93.52 (SD = 5) and increased to 113 (SD = 6.07) after 4 weeks (p =.001). Telephone-based counseling could increase the sexual satisfaction better than face-to-face counseling (mean difference: 20.34 [SD = 7.38] vs. 14.47 [SD = 5.32], p =.003). The telephone-based counseling is an effective and affordable method to solve the sexual problems and could increase the sexual satisfaction. Using this method in public health centers is recommended.

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“…From the telephone nurses’ point of view, telephone advice nursing involves triage, that is assessing the urgency of care needed; providing advice, support and education; referral to an appropriate level of care within the healthcare services; providing healthcare information and coordinating healthcare resources . Several studies show that care seekers call the HCCC to get a feeling of security, and they experienced that adequate advice and a friendly and professional approach were essential for the service . Ström, Marklund and Hildingh describe that the care seekers perceived HCCC as a professional, reliable and easily accessible asset in daily life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telephone advice nursing: parents’ experiences of monitoring calls in children with gastroenteritis

Eriksson¹,

Sandelius

Wahlberg

2014

Scandinavian Caring Sciences

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A common reason for calling a telephone advice nurse is gastroenteritis symptoms in children. A monitoring call is a follow-up call from the telephone nurse to the care seeker in order to follow up on given advice and make a new assessment. The aim of the study was to describe the parents' experiences of monitoring calls in telephone advice nursing in children with gastroenteritis. A qualitative interview method was chosen and data were analysed inductively with a qualitative latent content analysis. Ten parents, nine mothers and one father were interviewed. Four main categories and 13 subcategories were identified and described as useful, and the main categories were convenience - parents found it convenient to get access to self-care advice at home, confirmation - the interaction between the telephone nurse and the parent seemed to become deeper and closer as a result of the monitoring call, support - in a vulnerable situation receiving further information and an opportunity to let the telephone nurse monitor the sick child and guidance - to be guided through the most acute phase in the child's gastroenteritis symptoms. Monitoring calls seemed to be experienced as a security enhancing, positive opportunity and a robust complement to seeking care at a healthcare facility. The results of the study indicate how inhabitants can receive expert advice, support and guidance for care and provide a useful basis for Swedish Healthcare Direct (SHD) to develop the modalities for monitoring calls.

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Satisfaction with telephone advice from an accident and emergency department: identifying areas for service improvement.

Cited by 29 publications

References 9 publications

A novel approach for managing the growing demand for ambulance services by low-acuity patients

A novel approach for managing the growing demand for ambulance services by low-acuity patients

The Effect of Face-to-Face With Telephone-Based Counseling on Sexual Satisfaction Among Reproductive Aged Women in Iran

Telephone advice nursing: parents’ experiences of monitoring calls in children with gastroenteritis

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