K. Jones et al., NURSE TRIAGE FOR HOUSE CALL REQUESTS IN A TYNESIDE GENERAL-PRACTICE -PATIENTS VIEWS AND EFFECT ON DOCTOR WORKLOAD, British journal of general practice, 48(431), 1998, pp. 1303-1306
Background. Demand for consultations in primary care has risen recentl
y, necessitating a change in working practices. As part of this proces
s, the possible contribution of practice nurses in the telephone asses
sment of home visit requests merits attention. Aims. To survey the vie
ws of our patients encountering our nurse triage system for home visit
requests, set up in June 1985 and to plot its effect on the routine v
isiting workload of our doctors and thus their availability at the sur
gery Method The outcome of each request was categorized as: doctor to
visit (DV) surgery consultation with doctor (SC), nurse advice given a
nd accepted (NA), or call passed to doctor for advice (DA). Frequency
data from September 1995 to December 1996 were recovered. Questionnair
es for self-completion were sent to all those requesting a routine wee
kday house call during two four-week periods in 1995 and 1996. Results
. Analysable activity data revealed 1764 house call requests, with 41%
DV, 18% SC, 24% NA, and 8% DA. In the first survey, 121 questionnaire
s were sent out and 84 returned (69% response rate) and, in the second
, the corresponding figures were 113, 85, and 75%. About 80% of respon
ders reported that they were satisfied with the help received from the
nurse. Conclusions. Nurse triage of house call requests has led to mo
re efficient care for our patients, as we have increased the availabil
ity of surgery consultations by reducing the number of house calls mad
e by our general practitioners.