Observational studyBMJ paediatrics open2021
Paediatric attendances of the emergency department in a major Irish tertiary referral centre before and after expansion of free GP care to children under 6: a retrospective observational study.
Observational study in BMJ paediatrics open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- From fees to free: impacts of user fee removal on child health outcomes - a systematic review.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- A Descriptive Analysis of GP Referrals to a Model 4 Emergency Department in the West of Ireland.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Observational
- Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Emergency Hospitalizations for Acute Respiratory Infections: The Experience of a Paediatric Tertiary Care Hospital in Italy.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2024Article
- An analysis of the diagnoses and costs of pediatric emergency care visits: a single center study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: To examine the characteristics of paediatric attendances to the emergency department (ED) in Cork University Hospital (CUH) before and after the expansion of free general practitioner (GP) care to children under the age of 6 years. Design: This is a retrospective observational study that used a large administrative dataset. Setting: The study was conducted in major Irish tertiary referral centre that serves a total population of over 1.1 million. It is a public hospital, owned and managed by the health service executive. Participants: Children aged 0-15 years who attended CUH ED during the study period of 6 years (2012-2018) were included in this study (n=76 831). Interventions: Free GP care was expanded to all children aged 0-5 years in July 2015. Main outcome measures: Paediatric attendances to CUH ED were examined before (Time Period 1: July 2012-June 2015) and after (Time Period 2: July 2015-June 2018) the expansion of free GP care to children under 6. Changes in GP referral rates and inpatient hospital admissions were investigated. Results: Paediatric presentations to CUH ED increased from 35 819 during the Time Period 1 to 41 012 during the Time Period 2 (14.5%). The proportion of the CUH ED attendances through GP referrals by children under 6 increased by over 8% in the Time Period 2 (from 10 148 to 14 028). Although the number of all children who attended CUH ED and were admitted to hospital increased in Time Period 2 (from 8704 to 9320); the proportion of children in the 0-5 years group who attended the CUH ED through GP referral and were subsequently admitted to hospital, decreased by over 3%. Conclusion: The expansion of free GP care has upstream health service utilisation implications, such as increased attendances at ED, and should be considered and costed by policy-makers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.