ARRANGING HOSPITAL ADMISSION FOR ACUTELY ILL PATIENTS - PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

Background. Reports in the national press suggest that general practit ioners in London are experiencing difficulties in securing hospital ad mission for their acutely ill patients. Aim. A study was undertaken to investigate the problems encountered by general practitioners in one family health services authority in south east London in arranging acu te admissions to hospital. Method A self-report questionnaire was comp leted by a sample of general practitioners every time an acute hospita l admission was attempted. Results. A total of 493 questionnaires were completed by 111 general practitioners over the 47-day study period. Problems during the hospital admission procedure were experienced in 1 71 (35%) of the cases reported, with 115 of the 537 telephone calls to a hospital (21%) resulting in a refusal to admit the patient to that particular hospital. The main problem reported was that of 'no beds av ailable', an obstacle to admission that was more likely to be encounte red if the patient was aged 75 years or over than if the patient was y ounger. Conclusion. In the light of the problems reported, possible ch anges to the current method of arranging acute admissions to hospital in London are discussed.