Quality of clinical aspects of call handling at Dutch out of hours centres: cross sectional national study.
Derkx HP, Rethans J-JE, Muijtjens AM, et al. Quality of clinical aspects of call handling at Dutch out of hours centres: cross sectional national study. BMJ. 2008;337:a1264. doi:10.1136/bmj.a1264.
Inadequate telephone triage of patients' complaints has been recognized as a patient safety issue. This detailed study using simulated patients found that triage personnel frequently failed to ask recommended questions and also failed to provide appropriate self-care advice.