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Observational Study
. 2016 Aug;16(4):325-9.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.16-4-325.

Designing services for frequent attenders to the emergency department: a characterisation of this population to inform service design

Rebecca Jacob  1 , Mai Luen Wong  2 , Catherine Hayhurst  3 , Peter Watson  4 , Cecily Morrison  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Designing services for frequent attenders to the emergency department: a characterisation of this population to inform service design

Rebecca Jacob et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2016 Aug.

Abstract

Frequent attendance to the emergency department (ED) is a growing public health concern. Designing services for frequent attenders poses challenges, given the heterogeneous nature of this group. This was a two-part observational study identifying frequent attenders from ED records. The first stage studied trends and developed personas with emphasis on differentiating moderate frequent attenders (attending between 5 and 20 times per year) and extreme frequent attenders (attending more than 20 times). Stage 2 included a case note review of 100 consecutive frequent attenders. Results showed an increase in frequent attendance from 2.59% to 4.12% over 8 years. Moderate frequent attenders accounted for 97%. Of the 100 frequent attenders studied, 45% had medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), associated with younger age (p<0.001) but not with gender (p>0.05). In conclusion, the ED is a useful hub for identifying frequent attenders with MUS, particularly among moderate frequent attenders; service design for this group should consider a 'whole-systems approach' with integration between primary and secondary care, including specialist liaison psychiatry services where appropriate.

Keywords: Frequent attenders; MUS; medically unexplained symptoms; service design.

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