Dangerous Cats and Non-Barking Dogs

[摘要] How can we control demand from primary care? PCTs have struggled for years with rising elective referrals while simultaneously knowing that that some referrals are unnecessary and others could be dealt with by communitybased services. That's why PCTs have set up CATS — Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services. CATS (and the closely related Referral Management Services and Clinical Assessment Services) are intended to ensure that referrals are appropriate and hence by implication that demand is reduced. They are usually PCT-led and often backed by local policies that force all referrals for specified specialties to be assessed initially by the service. Evidence to date shows that CATS can be effective in reducing the volume of referrals.

[学科分类] 卫生学