... last Friday:
Faced with [GPS'] intransigence, many patients with something acute go to Accident & Emergency (even if strictly speaking it was neither accident nor emergency) and take their chances.
From today's Evening Standard:
Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, said that those with 50 or more visits tended to have mental health or other significant social problems. They often attended A&E in search of warmth, “a cup of tea” and a friendly face, he said, and were less of a burden on staff.
A bigger problem was caused by those using A&E as an alternative to GPs and who required assessment before being confirmed as non-emergency cases. Dr Mann said that campaigns to deter such patients from attending A&E had been a “dismal failure” and new primary care centres should be set up alongside emergency departments.
Which is sort of the same general idea.
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