Abstract
Day hospitals have, without question, become a necessary and important part of the geriatric service. The object of this study was to ascertain whether initial referral reasons matched the reasons for attendance at a day hospital. The criteria for referral fell into six categories as defined by Brocklehurst.1 Data were collected from two day hospitals, one in a rural area and one within a city. The information was gained by use of a questionnaire given to a random sample of 30 patients from each day hospital during one specified week. Results showed that all patients fell within the criteria of classification, the majority falling into the following three categories: rehabilitation; rehabilitation, medical investigations and procedures; and social support. On close comparison of the results from both day hospitals the relative needs of the patients attending and the use of basic resources available were vastly different. Without a more detailed examination of the background reasons behind this it would be impossible to ascertain why the differences in the two day hospitals proved to be so great. This would indeed provide an interesting and natural subsequent study.
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