| Abstract: | Objective: To identify parental reasons for presenting their child to the emergency department and their expectations of the consultation. Method: Cross‐sectional survey of parents of children and adolescents aged 14 years and under who presented to the Fairfield Emergency Department over a 2‐month period. Results: A questionnaire was returned from 694 of 839 eligible presentations (83%), with 51% having an urgent triage and 26% being admitted. Proximity was nominated as the reason for choosing the Fairfield Emergency Department by 48%, 62% of presentations were self‐referred and 44% had already seen another doctor. An urgent triage was associated with parental expectation of admission or observation in the emergency department (OR 2.79 [95% CI: 1.98–3.94]). Conclusions: The majority of presentations to the district emergency department are self‐referred and it is chosen because of proximity. The majority of children do not require admission; however, parents often have expectations that observation and further investigation will occur prior to discharge from the emergency department. |
