This study is led by Professor Steve Turner in Aberdeen, with collaborators from Stirling and Napier Universities. Emergency admissions of children to hospital are rising, particularly very short ‘zero day’ admissions. Readmissions, defined as an admission within the same diagnosis within the same calendar month, are also common.
The FLAMINGO study (FLow of AdMissions in chIldren and youNG peOple) involves linkage of hospital data with data from GPs, Emergency Departments and Out-of-hours services. The linked dataset will allow us to understand the pre-hospital pathways leading to admission, and this quantitative work will run alongside qualitative interviews with families and care providers to provide a deeper understanding of the current situation and potential ways forward to reduce numbers of emergency admissions.
Papers
Dick S, MacRae C, McFaul C, Rasul U, Wilson P, Turner S. Interventions to reduce acute paediatric hospital admissions: a systematic review. Arch Dis Child 2022;107:234–243. Doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2021-321884
Dick S, Crabb R, McFaul C, MacRae C, Wilson P, Turner S. Variation in referrals from primary care to scheduled paediatric services in North and East Scotland - A cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research 2021, 21:989 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06986-0.
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