HTA of providing a telephone service for acute, non-urgent medical care needs in the pre-hospital setting

Dr Carol McLoughlin, Dr Emma Reece, Joan Quigley, Orla Jenkins, Shibu Shrestha, Roberta Gugles, Augusta Zuokemefa, Marie Carrigan, Dr Derek Corrigan, Dr Susan Ahern, Dr Patricia Harrington, Dr Conor Teljeur, and Dr Máirín Ryan
Record ID 32018013259
English
Authors' objectives: Currently in Ireland, people have a range of options to access publicly-funded healthcare, including: attending a general practitioner (GP) during office hours; by ringing GP out-of-hours services; ringing 112/999 emergency ambulance services; self-presenting at an injury unit; or self-presenting at an emergency department (ED). People also have the option to visit a community pharmacy where they can obtain advice, receive treatment for a minor illness or be redirected to other primary care or urgent care services. An acute, non-urgent medical care need is where the investigation or intervention for an injury or illness could be safely deferred or managed in various healthcare settings. However, it may be challenging for people to know the difference between an urgent and a non-urgent medical need and or to know which healthcare setting is the most appropriate for them to attend. When primary care services and injury units cannot be readily accessed, people with acute, non-urgent care needs who are unwilling or unable to wait either go to an ED or call 112 or 999 for an emergency ambulance in order to access healthcare. This has contributed to an increased burden on emergency services and EDs. Under the current pathway, there may also be people who require care, but who defer attending the ED as they do not think this level of care is necessary or because they expect long waiting times. Provision of an acute, non-urgent telephone service is intended to support the timely provision of care in the most appropriate setting.
Details
Project Status: Completed
URL for project: https://www.hiqa.ie/sites/default/files/2025-10/Acute_non-urgent_telephone_service_HTA_report_.pdf
URL for protocol: https://www.hiqa.ie/sites/default/files/2024-08/Alternative-telephone-pathway-project-protocol.pdf
Year Published: 2025
URL for published report: https://www.hiqa.ie/sites/default/files/2025-10/Acute_non-urgent_telephone_service_HTA_report_.pdf
Requestor: The Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Full HTA
Country: Ireland
MeSH Terms
  • Health Services Accessibility
  • Telephone
  • Primary Health Care
  • Remote Consultation
  • After-Hours Care
  • Telemedicine
  • Access to Primary Care
Keywords
  • Telephone pathway
  • non urgent care
Contact
Organisation Name: Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)
Contact Address: Health Information and Quality Authority, George's Court, George's Lane,Smithfield, Dublin 7. PH : + 353 (01) 814 7464
Contact Name: info@hiqa.ie
Contact Email: info@hiqa.ie
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.