Articles: emergency-services.
-
Questions of medical responsibility of doctors working at the emergency services of the public hospitals have been increasing during recent years in Portugal. Several reasons may be contributing to the present situation and some of them are analysed: the organization of the service, the triage, the team work and the co-responsibilization of the hospital administration. The sharing of the responsibility among these several entities is discussed within the framework of the Portuguese bylaws regarding the responsibility in general and that of the doctors in particular.
-
People often assume that the use of hospital emergency departments for nonurgent problems is inappropriate. To test this assumption, several questions must be answered. These include, "How do we determine what is appropriate use of an ED?"; "How can we measure urgency in the ED?"; "Is care for nonurgent problems less effective in an ED than in a primary care facility?"; and "Is nonurgent care more costly in an ED than in a primary care facility?" These four questions are addressed, and suggestions for future research that would help answer these questions are made.
-
Improved emergency care may be achieved by closer integration of hospital and community management. This has been promoted in Salford by the appointment of an Emergency Services Practice Manager jointly funded by the Family Health Services Authority and Salford Health Authority. Communication has improved, complementary working relationships developed and health promotion initiatives established.