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NEWS: No link between A&E visits and practice opening times

Access to GP appointments – rather than extended opening times – may have an impact on pressure on emergency departments, according to an analysis published today.

There is no need to change GP opening times in England because there is no correlation between an increase in visits to A&E and surgery hours, the researchers report.

The finding is the latest piece of analysis to cast doubt on government claims that increasing GP opening times will relieve pressure on the NHS.

The observational research, led by Dr Thomas Cowling of Imperial College London, compared patients’ experiences of GP surgeries with the number of A&E visits in their areas in England from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014.

He and colleagues examined reports from NHS England’s annual GP Patient Survey and measured levels of patient satisfaction based on: the ease of making an appointment, opening hours, and overall experience.

The research involved more than 8,000 practices.

They matched the responses with A&E departments in the same area to observe any correlation with the number of visits to A&E. Overall in areas where patients were happier with the ease of making appointments, there were slightly fewer visits to A&E, they found.

The study suggested that greater satisfaction with GP hours does not affect the number of visits made to A&E in specific geographical areas. However, making the appointment booking process easier for patients was associated with slightly fewer A&E visits, they report.

Writing in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety, the research team say their findings support the need for different ways of easing the burden on A&E departments. The study could also mean there is no need for the Government’s proposals to extend GP surgery hours to ease the burden on A&E departments, they add.

Senior author Professor Azeem Majeed, of Imperial’s School of Public Health, said: “The government must find alternative ways to handle current pressures on A&E departments.

“This could include for example improving access to GP appointments during normal opening hours rather than spending scarce NHS resources on extended opening schemes.”

Dr Cowling, also from Imperial, added: “It makes sense to think that extending GP hours will ease the burden on other NHS services, but our study suggests this might not be the case with A&E.”

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