ATTITUDES OF DUBLIN ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT DOCTORS AND NURSES TOWARDS THE SERVICES OFFERED BY LOCAL GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

Good communication at the accident and emergency (A&E)-general practic e interface is important. Such communication will be affected by the a ttitudes of A&E staff towards local general practitioners (GPs). The o bjectives of this study were to establish and compare, using a questio nnaire, the attitudes of Dublin A&E doctors and nurses towards the ser vices offered by local GPs. A questionnaire was sent to all nurses and non-consultant doctors working in four of the six Dublin A&E departme nts. Completed questionnaires were received from 57 (61%) nurses and 3 5 (81%) doctors. Only two activities (being accessible to patients dur ing normal surgery hours and providing family planning services) were rated by more than one-fifth of doctors and nurses as being performed 'well'. Six activities (being accessible to patients outside surgery h ours, providing longterm care for the chronically ill and debilitated, providing appropriate care for 'difficult' patients, advising patient s about the appropriate use of services and performing first aid) were rated by more than 40% of both doctors and nurses as being performed 'badly'. For all activities the nurses consistently rated the performa nce of the 'average GP' more critically than the doctors. These result s must be interpreted cautiously. The implications of these findings a nd how best they can be addressed are discussed.