Table 2.
Emergency department contact and previous health contacts in patients who consulted a GP in the 3 days before an emergency admission to hospital for all diagnoses and commonly missed conditions, by admission referrala
| Variable | Self-referred,b n = 24 953, n (%) | Other referred, n = 91 144, n (%) | Total, N = 116 097, n |
|---|---|---|---|
| ED visits (3–365 days) | |||
| 0 | 9628 (18.2) | 43 370 (81.8) | 52 998 |
| 1 | 6032 (21.6) | 21 859 (77.4) | 27 891 |
| 2+ | 9293 (26.4) | 25 915 (73.6) | 35 208 |
|
| |||
| A previous hospital admission <30 days | |||
| For a surgical procedure | 2274 (24.3) | 7079 (75.7) | 9353 |
| Non-surgical admission | 3279 (24.8) | 9964 (75.2) | 13 243 |
|
| |||
| Previous hospital admission (30–365 days) | |||
| Elective 1+ | 6696 (22.5) | 23 111 (77.5) | 29 807 |
| Emergency 1+ | 9992 (23.5) | 32 516 (76.5) | 42 508 |
|
| |||
| Mean (95% CI) | Median (IQR) | Mean (95% CI) | |
|
| |||
| Primary care consultations (3–365 days) | |||
| GP | 9 (4 to 17) | 8 (4–5) | 8 (4 to 16) |
| Nurse | 2 (0 to 4) | 2 (0–4) | 2 (0 to 4) |
| Face-to-face | 11 (5 to 19) | 10 (5–18) | 10 (5 to 18) |
| Telephone | 0 (0 to 2) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0 to 2) |
a
Data are for 116 097 emergency admissions by 90 193 patients who had a consultation with a GP between April 2014 and December 2017.
b
Self-referred admission is defined as an admission via the emergency department and a corresponding emergency department record with a referral source of self-referred. ED = emergency department. IQR = interquartile range.