Table 1 Norwegian general practitioners’ scores on statements about their referral process (A1-10) and data collected when actually referring to hospital (B1-6) during 1 month in 2014 (n = 57)
Variables | Mean | SD | Median | Min | Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Statements on VAS 10 cm: 0 = strongly disagree, 10 = strongly agree) | ||||||
A1. “I spend a lot of time and effort on referrals” | 5.3 | 2.0 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 9.8 | |
A2. “I often feel that I don’t know enough about what is expected to make a good referral” | 3.2 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 10.0 | |
A3. “I am often afraid to have the referral rejected from hospital” | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 | |
A4. “I am often afraid that the referral gives an impression of me not knowing enough about the actual medical problem” | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 9.5 | |
A5. “It is easy to get in contact with a hospital specialist for advice” | 4.9 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | |
A6. “Some referrals could have been avoided if I had got in contact with a hospital consultant when referring” | 5.8 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 0.0 | 10.0 | |
A7. “I usually complete the referral during the consultation” | 4.6 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 10.0 | |
A8. “The patient’s participation and opinion is important to me when I refer” | 6.2 | 1.9 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 9.5 | |
A9. “The patient should see the referral or have a copy before it is sent” | 5.0 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 0.3 | 10.0 | |
A10 “Giving the patient a copy of the referral will improve the quality” | 4.4 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 10.0 | |
B1. Difficult referral to make | (Likert scale 1–10) | 2.6 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 5.6 |
B2. Pressure from patient to be referred | (Likert scale 1–10) | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.7 |
B3. Suggesting a priority for the patient to be admitted to hospital (%) | 39.9 | 39.3 | 26.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | |
B4. Suggesting a wait for the patient to be admitted to hospital (%) | 28.2 | 33.6 | 17.6 | 0.0 | 100.0 | |
B5. Telephone contact with hospital specialist when referring (%) | 9.1 | 16.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | |
B6. The time used for making the referral (minutes) | 8.2 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 2.0 | 17.1 | |