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  • Title: Are short-stay admissions to an acute general medical unit appropriate? Wellington Hospital experience.
    Author: Burgess CD.
    Journal: N Z Med J; 1998 Aug 28; 111(1072):314-5. PubMed ID: 9765628.
    Abstract:
    AIM: This audit was performed to ascertain whether the admission of patients to the General Medical Unit (Wellington Hospital) for one day or less was appropriate. METHODS: Between 1 July 1996 and 30 June 1997, 494 patients were admitted to General Medicine for one day or less. The medical records for a random sample of 245 patients were reviewed. A modification of the Oxford Bed Study Instrument was used to assess the appropriateness of admission. RESULTS: Twenty admissions (8.2%) were deemed inappropriate, six patients could have been referred to medical outpatients, four were known epileptics who presented following a seizure, and none of the others merited admission on severity criteria. Ten patients were triaged after 10.00 pm, when discharge becomes more difficult. Forty-two patients required an investigation which delayed discharge. CONCLUSION: With the present community and investigation facilities available, there is no evidence that the majority of 24-hour admissions to acute General Medicine are inappropriate.
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