Perceptions of Health Workers working in Maternal and Child Health Units on Current Referral System Status in Lagos State Nigeria

Abstract

Referral system is any process in which health care providers at lower levels of the health system, who lack the skills, the facilities, or both to manage a given clinical condition, seek the assistance of providers who are better equipped or specially trained to guide them in managing or to take over responsibility for a particular episode of a clinical condition in a patient. This study explores the profile and outcome of patients referred by primary health care workers. To evaluate the perceptions of current referrals status by referring and receiving healthcare workers. This was a descriptive cross sectional study undertaken with the aid of a questionnaire administered by the researcher to healthcare workers at selected primary, secondary and tertiary care. Two percent of the study subjects admitted to being informed of the referred patients in advance of receiving them. Post-referral communication was similarly poor, with less than five percent of the respondents revealing that they send feedback to the referring hospital on a regular basis. There is poor and lack of feedbacks from referral site. To improve on this there is need to provide counter-referrals/feedback slips for use at all referral sites.

Key words: Referral, system, healthcare worker, perceptions