• S J Hendry, T F Beattie, and D Heaney.
• Accident and Emergency Department, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, UK. scotthendry@doctors.org.uk
• Arch. Dis. Child. 2005 Jun 1; 90 (6): 629-33.

AimsTo gather information on children with minor illness or injury presenting to a paediatric accident and emergency (A&E) department and the decision making process leading to their attendance.MethodsProspective questionnaire based survey of 465 children selected by systematic sampling from A&E attenders allocated to the lowest triage category.ResultsThe study population was statistically representative of the total population of A&E attenders. The lower deprivation categories were over represented. Educational attainment, childcare experience, and parental coping skills were important in relation to A&E attendance. More children attended with injury as opposed to illness. There were no significant demographic differences between those children who presented directly to A&E and those who made prior contact with a GP. Just under half the study population had made contact with a general practitioner (GP) before attending A&E. The majority of those children were directly referred to A&E at that point. GPs referred equivalent numbers of children with illness and injury.ConclusionsParents and GPs view paediatric A&E departments as an appropriate place to seek treatment for children with minor illness or injury.

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