Aim

The appropriateness of patients' visits to an emergency unit was investigated in the study on which this article is based.

Method

This descriptive study included 2 968 patient cards from the National District Hospital, Bloemfontein emergency unit during 2003. Patient information was evaluated according to predetermined criteria to determine whether a visit was appropriate or not.

Results

The patients' ages varied between 0 and 97 years (median 29 years) of which 50.8% was female. Informal settlements represented 26.4% of patients' neighbourhoods. The most common chronic condition was hypertension (7.9%). Only 8.4% of patients were already using medication for their presenting condition. Most patients (72.4%) presented after hours and 36.6% presented over weekends. The total number of injuries was 22.9%, while 75.6% of the patients were examined for medical or surgical problems. The criterion with the most visits was the trauma category (21.8%). The criterion with the least patients (0.3%) was the criterion for significant bleeding. According to the results, more than a third (35.4%; 95% CI 33.7%; 37.2%) of the patients' visits can be seen as inappropriate.

Conclusion

The emergency unit is used inappropriately.