Interventions for reducing unplanned paediatric admissions: an observational study in one hospital

Objective Evidence on how best to intervene to improve paediatric acute care and therefore reduce unplanned hospital admissions is weak. We describe service evaluation work at one hospital to assess interventions at critical clinical and service decision points.Design We conducted an observational study using routine daily-collected data (April 2009–December 2015) from a medium-sized district general hospital in south-west UK, using before-and-after comparisons of admissions-related data to evaluate two interventions implemented in April and November 2014, respectively: (1) an advice and guidance (A&G) phone line, where a senior paediatrician is available for general practitioners (GPs) and emergency department (ED) and (2) a Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Unit (SSPAU). We analysed data on all admitted children (