ASSESSMENT OF FAMILY PAEDIATRICIANS’ OUTPATIENT ORGANIZATION

Key words: Family paediatrician, Professional activity, Support activity

The professional growth of a group of paediatricians, members of the APREF Association of Padua (Italy), which can be considered representative of the current situation in Veneto Region compared to the same evaluation carried out in 1992, has been assessed and the professional activities seem to have undergone a relevant change in the last 15 years. The use of clinical records on electronic work-sheets is now common, the surgeries have become more comfortable to welcome children and parents and are more equipped for selfhelp, and the paediatricians are often supported by a secretary or a nurse. The number of hours of availability to take calls from parents has increased with the sensibility to privilege the response to really urgent visits and so has the will to get organized in order to set up surgeries with associations or groups of paediatricians. Paediatricians have shared timing and competences to carry out more and more evolved prevention activities during the growth and health check ups, particularly in ophthalmology. Therapeutic and diagnostic procedures have been shared and agreed upon. Paediatricians have also worked a lot on continuous support activities, on the computerization of the activities of paediatricians, on primary activities and second level services, and on the offer of services within the ADI (integrated home assistance service). The challenge for the future is improving the assistance to situations that are becoming more and more common: behavioural disturbances, learning difficulties in children with pathologic conditions, immigrant children etc. It will be necessary to work very hard in order to provide better responses to the requests of patients with special needs by improving the filtering system to face the increase in requests for minor problems.