Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Apr 1993

Vol. 429 No. 8

Written Answers. - Hospital Accident and Emergency Departments.

Ivor Callely

Question:

96 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the examination or research that has been carried out on the level of attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments with complaints which could have been dealt with by a general practitioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

Research which has been carried out to date on the level of attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments has resulted in a considerable variation in the reported proportions of inappropriate attenders. These results probably stem from the fact that there is no accepted objective definition of appropriate use of accident and emergency services.

In order to address the issue of appropriate use, my Department is supporting an Accident and Emergency-Primary Care pilot project involving the attachment of a number of general practitioners to the Accident and Emergency Department at St. James's Hospital, Dublin. The objectives of this project are to develop an effective management system which identifies those problems presented to accident and emergency which are appropriate for primary care management and to compare the management and outcome of this group of patients by general practitioner and accident and emergency medical staff.

Further initiatives in this area will be considered in the light of an evaluation of this project.