title: The impact of NHS Direct on the demand for out-of-hours primary and emergency care.
abstract: In order to assess the impact of NHS Direct on out-of-hours primary and emergency care, we sought data on service demand from all GP cooperatives, ambulance services and emergency departments in England, Wales and Scotland. We analysed the impact of NHS Direct on demand, taking advantage of the fact that the service was introduced in waves over a period of 2 years. The results showed that the introduction of NHS Direct was associated with a reduction in calls to GP cooperatives, but with no evident effect on emergency services.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield. j.f.munro@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nicholl
mesh_terms: D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D013222:State Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006113:United Kingdom; D016526:Workload