Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu
You just cannot walk into A&E now wihtout a GP appointment letter.
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I suspect if your condition is serious enough you will still be admitted.
I think what they are trying to stop is something that was actually a major problem when I worked for my local hospital (not in A&E but I knew a few people who worked there).
That problem was that a lot of people were seeking treatment in A&E for injuries or illnesses that could have been treated by a GP or even with over the counter medicines by the patient themselves. A lot of these patients had been referred by GPs.
Our local health authority even went as far as converting one of the smaller hospitals in the borough to a state of the art minor injuries unit that local GPs could use to perform minor surgery on patients. with the idea that it freed up resources at the borough's A&E department for more serious injuries and illnesses.
The MI unit was so underused that the HA ended up converting it back to a hospital.
Why is this a problem? Simple. Cost. It costs the NHS several times as much to treat a minor injury at an A&E department as it does for the GP to treat the injury at either their own surgery (assuming it is so equipped) or at a local MI unit. Obviously, if the patient is able to themselves using over the counter medicine, it costs the NHS nothing.