Connect
MJA
MJA

To ED or not to ED: a phone call will not answer

Patrick G M Bolton and Michael H G Golding
Med J Aust 2012; 197 (9): . || doi: 10.5694/mja12.11329
Published online: 5 November 2012

Telephone advice lines direct resources to improved access without improving the delivery of tangible services

The demands placed on the health system are increasing faster than population growth. Demand for services in emergency departments (EDs) increased 3.2% per annum in the 5 years to 2010–11.1


  • 1 School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
  • 2 Emergency Department, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW.



Competing interests:

Patrick Bolton is a non-executive director of Ochre Health, the interests of which include GP Super Clinics.

  • 1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Emergency department services. http://www.aihw.gov.au/haag10-11/emergency-department-services (accessed Sep 2012).
  • 2. Cameron PA, Joseph AP, McCarthy SM. Access block can be managed. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 364-368.
  • 3. Department of Human Services, State Government of Victoria. Hospital demand management. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/archive/archive2006/hdms (accessed Sep 2012).
  • 4. Ng JY, Fatovich DM, Turner VF, et al. Appropriateness of healthdirect referrals to the emergency department compared with self-referrals and GP referrals. Med J Aust 2012; 197: 498-502.
  • 5. Britt H, Miller GC, Charles J, et al. General practice activity in Australia 2000–01 to 2009–10: 10 year data tables. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010. (AIHW Cat. No. GEP 28; General Practice Series No. 28.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442472440 (accessed Jul 2012).
  • 6. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. Fact sheet: urban emergency services — ATS 4 and 5 patients. Melbourne: ACEM, 2001. http://www.acem.org.au/media/ats_4_5_factsheet.pdf (accessed Oct 2012).
  • 7. Macklin J. A study of hospital outpatient and emergency department services. Melbourne: National Health Strategy, 1992. (National Health Strategy Background Paper No. 10.)
  • 8. Stewart-Weeks M, Cameron I, Brooks M, et al. Integrating consumer views about quality in general practice. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1996.
  • 9. Kahneman D. Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
  • 10. Steinbrook R. The role of the emergency department. New Engl J Med 1996; 334: 657-658.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.