[Primary health care and emergency admission of patients. What happened prior to admissions and how did the patients experience the primary health care system?].

Of 238 patients admitted to Haugesund hospital, 159 completed a questionnaire evaluating the primary health care system and describing events before admission to hospital. Half of the patients had contacted the health care system within one hour after onset of symptoms. Two thirds of the 159 patients had consulted a general practitioner, while 33 patients had used the emergency telephone number or had gone directly to the hospital. Two thirds of the patients who had been examined by a general practitioner were visited within an hour after first contact. According to the questionnaires, 58 patients visited at home were sicker than the 62 patients examined at the doctor's surgery. No such difference was found, however, by the junior doctor who examined the patients upon admission to hospital. Apart from the 11 patients who felt rejected at their first contact with the health personnel, the patients judged this first contact with the primary health care system and the general practitioner to be very satisfactory.