Impact of NHS walk-in centres on the workload of other local healthcare providers: time series analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of NHS walk-in centres on the workload of local accident and emergency departments, general practices, and out of hours services.


METHODS
Time series analysis in walk-in centre sites with no-treatment control series in matched sites.


METHODS
Walk-in centres and matched control towns without walk-in centres in England.


METHODS
20 accident and emergency departments, 40 general practices, and 14 out of hours services within 3 km of a walk-in centre or the centre of a control town.


METHODS
Mean number (accident and emergency departments) or rate (general practices and out of hours services) of consultations per month in the 12 month periods before and after an index date.


RESULTS
A reduction in consultations at emergency departments (-175 (95% confidence interval -387 to 36) consultations per department per month) and general practices (-19.8 (-53.3 to 13.8) consultations per 1000 patients per month) close to walk-in centres became apparent, although these reductions were not statistically significant. Walk-in centres did not have any impact on consultations on out of hours services.


CONCLUSIONS
It will be necessary to assess the impact of walk-in centres in a larger number of sites and over a prolonged period, to determine whether they reduce the demand on other local NHS providers.
Chalder
Melanie
M
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, Cardiff. chalderm@cardiff.ac.uk
Sharp
Debbie
D
Moore
Laurence
L
Salisbury
Chris
C
D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013222:State Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*