CHALLENGES OF REFERRAL AND COUNTER-REFERRAL IN HEALTH CARE IN THE WORKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study’s objective was to identify the challenges of Primary and Tertiary Healthcare in the health services of a municipality in the South of Brazil. It is a descriptive-exploratory study, with a qualitative approach, undertaken with the multi-professional team. The data were collected between July and August 2014, using semistructured interviews. The results were organized in two thematic categories: Difficulty in articulation in the health services and the solitary work. The lack of communication between the services’ workers, lack of knowledge regarding the services in the network, lack of continuing education, the absence of feedback from the services and the lack of responsibilization of the professionals involved in the care were highlighted, which weakens the processes of referral and counter referral.

Keywords

• Health services
• Comprehensive health care
• Reference and appointments
• Patient care team