The appropriateness of, and compliance with, telephone triage decisions: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Abstract

Telephone triage services can offer appropriate decisions and decisions that callers comply with. However, the association between the appropriateness of a decision and subsequent compliance requires further investigation and further consideration needs to be given to the minority of calls which are inappropriately managed. We suggest that a definition of appropriateness incorporating both accuracy and adequacy of triage decision should be encouraged.

Advantages and limitations of virtual online consultations in a NHS acute trust: the VOCAL mixed-methods study

“…Telephone contact is used variably for assessment and triage of acute problems; [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] general practice consultations; [34][35][36][37][38][39][40] to offer health education; 41,42 and to offer support for those with chronic illness 43,44 or those in need of palliative care. 45 The literature on telephone consultations consists largely of small and heterogeneous primary studies, most of which had practical challenges or methodological flaws.…”

Impact of a GP-led walk-in centre on NHS emergency departments

“…Additionally, it may be difficult for patients to determine the severity of their problems, and so they prefer to go to the ED to prevent any potential harm. This may be one of the reasons why most alternative urgent care services have failed to show any reduction in ED use,15 including the new NHS 111 telephone service 16…”

Pregnancy-related telephone consultations to an out-of-hours provider: a retrospective study

“…Blank et al (2012) undertook a systematic review of 54 studies, examining the effectiveness and appropriateness of telephone triage decisions. A median of 77% of telephone triage decisions were found to be appropriate in relation to the advice offered or referral to the right level of service in a timely manner.…”

“…There is a wealth of research exploring issues around telephone consultations relating to safety (Huibers et al, 2011) and the appropriateness of advice offered (Blank et al, 2012). The effectiveness of the nurse compared to the GP in telephone triage has also been investigated (Bunn et al, 2005).…”