Regional variations in short stay urgent paediatric hospital admissions: a sequential mixed-methods approach exploring differences through data linkage and qualitative interviews.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The aim of this sequential mixed-methods study was to describe and understand how paediatric short stay admission (SSA) rates vary across Health Board regions of Scotland.

Design

Exploratory sequential mixed-methods study. Routinely acquired data for the annual (per capita) SSA to hospital were compared across the 11 regions. Five diverse regions with different SSA per capita formed cases for qualitative interviews with health professionals and parents to explore how care pathways, service features and geography may influence decisions to admit.

Setting

Scotland.

Participants

All children admitted to hospital 2015-2017. Healthcare staff (n=48) and parents (n=15) were interviewed.

Results

Of 171 039 urgent hospital admissions, 92 229 were SSAs,

SUBMITTER: King E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10533722 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature