• M C García de Ribera, M R Bachiller Luque, M Vázquez Fernández, M P Barrio Alonso, P Hernández Velázquez, and A M Hernández Vázquez.
• Centro de Salud de Peñafiel, Gerencia de Atención Primaria, Valladolid Este, España. cristinaderibera@hotmail.com
• Rev Calid Asist. 2013 May 1; 28 (3): 174-80.

ObjectivesTo conduct a pilot study of telephone consultation in the paediatric population of an urban health centre. To evaluate the telephone consultation as an effective tool when it comes to exercising prior triage of patients requiring urgent attention.Material And MethodsThe study was conducted in two phases. In the first, data were collected from all calls received for six months. In a second phase, we conducted a telephone intervention study to analyse what a random sample of users remembered of the care provided. All those who requested a telephone consultation were included in the study. Demographic, social-welfare, epidemiological, and clinical features, of each patient were recorded. Data were processed using a statistical package SPSS version 17.0 for Windows.ResultsThere were 439 telephone inquiries in our pilot project, of which 35.1% were attended by residents, 36% by paediatricians, and 28.9% by paediatric nurses. There were more telephone calls in the afternoons and on weekends. Patients less than or equal to 2 years accounted for 57.9% of cases handled, and there were no differences between sexes. The most frequent reasons for consultation were gastrointestinal symptoms, fever and respiratory problems. The health problem was resolved in 85.8% of cases, requiring only home care instructions, and only 13.3% of children were referred to emergency services. We obtained a mean score of satisfaction of 9.2.ConclusionsThe pilot project had a high level of satisfaction and resolution, demonstrating cost savings by reducing 55% of face to face visits, with a saving of 35.2 euros per telephone consultation. A teleconsultation model for dealing with emergencies in primary care by telephone would be comparable to a practice staffed by trained paediatric nurses.Copyright © 2012 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

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