The majority of parents who took their children to hospital emergency departments for less-urgent medical situations did not contact their GP first despite appointments being available, a new survey has found.
The research conducted by the University of Melbourne aimed at finding out the reasons behind the high rates of presentations to emergency departments (EDs) at Victorian hospitals.
Previous research has shown children aged up to four years make up the largest number of visits.
Lead researcher Professor Gary Freed said most parents surveyed had not tried to see their local doctor first.
“Fewer than half the parents who took their children to the ED for these lower urgency conditions had tried to call their GP for advice or tried to make an appointment,” he said.
“Of those who did contact their GP or went to see their GP, more than two-thirds of those were actually sent to the ED for these lower urgency conditions.
“We think that some parents are probably going directly to the ED because they didn’t think they could get in to see the GP.”
But Professor Freed said further research into GP availability revealed there were same-day appointments available in 75 per cent of all practices and most bulk-billed practices.
“Others have told us that they take their kids to the ED because that’s what they’ve been told in the past by their GP, so they just go their right away anyway,” he said.
Review ‘needed’ into why kids sent to ED
All parents surveyed were with a child who had been later assessed by hospital clinicians as being of low urgency and could have been addressed by a family doctor, Professor Freed said.
“It raises some really significant issues about why parents are choosing the ED over their GP, and then the more difficult question to try and address is why GPs are sending so many kids with these lower urgency conditions to the ED, when in fact most of those could be handled within the GP practices themselves,” he said.
He said one reason could be that GPs may feel less comfortable caring for children, given the rise of adult chronic diseases and an ageing population.
A review into how GPs were trained and supported to provide health care to children might also be needed, he said.