Paediatric patients who attend the accident and emergency department: perspectives of parents - a qualitative study.

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.