Objective:
To explore the perspectives of parents of children with non-urgent conditions who attend a Paediatric Emergency
Department(ED) rather than a primary care facility or private
health care provider.
Study Design:
A qualitative study using a semi-structured
approach.
Subjects and Methods:
Demographic data was collected over
a 3 month period from 134 parents of children through a self
administered questionnaire. Of these, 24 parents were interviewed
to determine their reasons for attending the ED; their knowledge
of the health service and to explore their understanding of their
child’s illness.
Results:
Five major factors were identified as influencing parents’
decisions to attend the ED: age of child, ease of access; confidence
in staff and facilities; perception that ED was more patient
friendly and cost of private health care. While most parents were
willing to initiate treatment for minor illnesses at home, many
indicated they preferred the ED rather than the health centre if
their child’s acute illness was more severe.
Conclusions.
We found that the deterrents to seeking health care in the primary care setting included concerns about the competence
of doctors and nurses in treating sick children and communicating
with parents. In addition, insufficient paediatric clinics days,
long waiting times and inadequate child friendly facilities were
also named as barriers to accessing primary care health centres.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)