BMJ 2000;321:1224 ( 11 November )

Letters

Out of hours demand is higher in Wales than in England and Scotland

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Contact rates for out of hours services are greater in Wales than in England and Scotland. Statistics gathered by two south Wales cooperatives based in Gwent and Neath Port Talbot show that the workload is considerably higher than that indicated by Salisbury et al.1

The Gwent cooperative covers a population of 116 040 patients and 56 doctors and the Neath cooperative 95 000 patients and 52 doctors. The number of patient contacts/1000 patients/year in 1999 was 204 in Gwent and 346.5 in Neath. This compares with the reported rates for those English and Scottish cooperatives that included bank holiday cover (both Welsh organisations provide this) of 145 and 221. The table compares the figures for the Gwent and Neath cooperatives with those for England and Scotland given by Salisbury et al. Although statistics have been collected in different ways, reasonably accurate comparisons can be made.


Table Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)

The Neath area does not attract high deprivation payments; my practice of . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Demand for and supply of out of hours care from general practitioners in England and Scotland: observational study based on routinely collected data
Chris Salisbury, Marialena Trivella, and Stephen Bruster
BMJ 2000 320: 618-621. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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