Triage reduces general practitioners' workload but not costs

Nurse telephone triage of requests for same day appointments in primary care resulted in 40% of patients being managed by a nurse alone. Richards and colleagues (p 1214) compared triage with standard management in routine primary care and found that although the same day workload of general practitioners was reduced, triage increased nursing and overall time per patient. Demand for out of hours and accident and emergency care also increased. Costs did not differ between the two groups. Practices need to be aware that new roles for nurses may reduce the burden of traditional practice but may not significantly shrink overall costs.

(Credit: SPL)

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Relevant Article

Nurse telephone triage for same day appointments in general practice: multiple interrupted time series trial of effect on workload and costs

David A Richards, Joan Meakins, Jane Tawfik, Lesley Godfrey, Evelyn Dutton, Gerald Richardson, and Daphne Russell
BMJ 2002 325: 1214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]