Questions under study/principles
Switzerland experiences a strong increase of the unscheduled medical consultations which participates to the congestion of the hospital emergency departments. In this context, many walk-in emergency clinics have been established but less is known about the characteristics of the patients who visit these structures.
Methods
First, retrospective data about frequentation between 2011 and 2014 of three walk-in emergency clinics in Lausanne were analysed. Secondly, a questionnaire about sociodemographic data, access to care, patient's usual health status, and their global resources to solve their health problem was submitted during one week in the waiting room of each clinic from 1-20 September 2014, to patients aged 16 or older.
Results
The overall number of consultations increased globally by 6.9%, whereas Lausanne's population only increased by 2.9%. 305 (87%) patients were included for the questionnaire. The mean age of participants was 40.6 years old, 50% were women and 65% were Swiss. 76% of patients had a primary care physician (PCP), 38.7% of them said they had try to contact him in the last 24h for their problem. Among them, 81% did not get an appointment on the same day.
Conclusions
Our study shows that many patients suffering from a non-life-threatening health problem use walk-in emergency clinics as their PCP. Walk-in emergency clinics seem to respond to patient's needs and to the change in the way that care is consumed.