Attendance patterns of patients at a regional hospital casuality department in the Free State Province

Abstract

With the exception of emergency cases most patients should first be seen at the Primary Health Care(PHC) level where a decision is made by a doctor or nurse as to whether they should be referred to a higher level of care or not. Such referral would be referring to a district hospital, from there to a regional hospital then eventually to a central hospital. Over the last five years the argument from Pelonomi Regional Hospital (PRH) casualty department doctors has been growing louder and louder about patients they see which should be seen at PHC level. It was for this reason that this study was found to be necessary in order to put the arguments to a scientific test and be certain that the complaints are valid i.e. Are the majority of patients seen inappropriate for this level of care?