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Repeat attenders at A&E can account for almost one in seven emergency visits to hospital, study suggests

Researchers carried out a review into frequent visitors in emergency departments and concluded that the needs of these people are 'consistently not being met'.

Source: Cubes | 

04.12.2024, 16:26

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Repeat attenders at A&E can account for almost one in seven emergency visits to hospital, a new study suggests.

Researchers carried out a review into frequent visitors in emergency departments and concluded that the needs of these people - who are often elderly - are ‘consistently not being met’.

Experts from the British Red Cross examined data on A&E attendances in Dorset. They found that around 1.7 per cent of the county’s entire population accounts for 13.8 per cent of A&E attendances.

The visits are more likely to be classed as urgent by doctors, the report found, and these people are more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods. 

Two groups were more likely to be repeat visitors - the first being over-70s with two or more long-term conditions, with nearly half nearing the end of their lives.

The second group are aged 20 to 49, with slightly more women than men, with ill mental health.

Both groups are more likely to arrive at A&E via ambulance and both attended GPs more frequently in the month before their A&E attendance, the report found.

Many people are making repeat visits to emergency departments across the country because of unresolved medical issues and other unmet non-clinical needs, the British Red Cross said.

Many people are making repeat visits to emergency departments across the country because of unresolved medical issues and other unmet non-clinical needs (file image)

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