Issue Date
2015-03Keywords
GENERAL PRACTICEULTRASOUND
MeSH
AdultDiagnostic Services
Female
General Practice
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Ireland
Male
Quality Improvement
Referral and Consultation
Tertiary Care Centers
Ultrasonography
Waiting Lists
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Open-access ultrasound referrals from general practice. 2015, 108 (3):90-2 Ir Med JPublisher
Irish Medical JournalJournal
Irish medical journalPubMed ID
25876304Abstract
Direct access referral for radiological investigations from General Practice (GP) provides an indispensable diagnostic tool and avoids the inherently long waiting time that referral through a hospital based specialty would entail. Improving access to hospital based radiology services is one of Health Information and Quality Authority's key recommendations in its report on patient referrals from general practice. This study aimed to review all GP referrals for ultrasound investigations to a tertiary referral teaching hospital over a seven month period with respect to their demographics, waiting times and diagnostic outcomes. 1,090 ultrasounds originating in general practice were carried out during the study period. Positive findings were recorded in 332 (30.46%) examinations. The median waiting time from receipt of referral to the diagnostic investigation was 56 days (range 16 - 91 years). 71 (6.5%) patients had follow-up imaging investigations while recommendation for hospital based specialty referral was made in 35 cases (3.2%). Significant findings included abdominal aortic aneurysms, metastatic disease and lymphoma. Direct access to ultrasound for general practitioners allows the referring physician to make an informed decision with regard to the need for specialist referral. We believe these findings help support the case for national direct access to diagnostic ultrasound for general practitioners.Item Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
0332-3102Collections
Related articles
- Audit of acute referrals to the Department of Dermatology at Waikato Hospital: comparison with national access criteria for first specialist appointment.
- Authors: Stanway A, Oakley A, Rademaker M, Duffill M
- Issue date: 2004 Apr 23
- Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine: direct access for general practitioners.
- Authors: Chawda SJ, Watura R, Lloyd DC
- Issue date: 1997 Sep
- Evaluation of an independent, radiographer-led community diagnostic ultrasound service provided to general practitioners.
- Authors: Pallan M, Linnane J, Ramaiah S
- Issue date: 2005 Jun
- Evaluating the primary-to-specialist referral system for elective hip and knee arthroplasty.
- Authors: Fyie K, Frank C, Noseworthy T, Christiansen T, Marshall DA
- Issue date: 2014 Feb
- Provision of a "same-day" ultrasound service in an inner-city NHS trust: report on experience and lessons learned after the first 2 years.
- Authors: Hawtin KE, Hameed S, Ramachandran R, Harvey CJ, Lim AK, Gishen P, Roddie ME
- Issue date: 2010 Jan