Haith Cooper, M, Stacey, T, Edwards, E et al. (2 more authors) (2015) Pregnancy-related telephone consultations to an out-of-hours provider: a retrospective study. Primary Health Care, 25 (2). 24 - 29. ISSN 0264-5033
Abstract
Pregnant women generally have 24-hour access to advice from maternity services; they can also contact out-of-hours (OOH) services, but the nature of this contact is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of pregnancy-related telephone consultation calls to an OOH service to compare the differences between the way calls were handled by GPs and nurse practitioners (NPs). The authors analysed 2,022 telephone pregnancy-related consultations made between January and December 2011 to an NHS OOH primary care service provider; 102 GPs and 36 NPs were involved. The mean length of consultation differed depending on clinician type: GPs were more likely to provide advice only, while NPs were more likely to recommend a base visit. Most consultations related to the first trimester of pregnancy, a time when women do not generally have access to maternity services. Later in pregnancy, women access OOH services when they could be accessing maternity services directly. GPs and NPs handle calls differently; it is unclear whether this affects clinical outcome.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | General practitioner; maternity services; nurse practitioner; out of hours; pregnancy; primary health care; telephone consultation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Healthcare (Leeds) > Midwifery (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2015 12:19 |
Last Modified: | 05 Dec 2015 22:12 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/phc.25.2.24.e936 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | RCN Publishing |
Identification Number: | 10.7748/phc.25.2.24.e936 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:84055 |