Out of hours attendance in an army practice.

There is some evidence that rates of out of hours calls in army general practices are higher than the average for the NHS. In an attempt to reduce out of hours demand a programme of preventive and educational initiatives for patients was introduced at an army practice in Hohne, West Germany early in 1985. This included regular child development clinics, well woman clinics, a practice booklet and leaflets about the management of simple illnesses, a library of books and videos for patients and health education videos in the waiting room. The project was complemented by an audit of doctors' prescribing habits followed by drawing up agreed protocols for the treatment of common disorders such as sore throat. Annual attendance rates per registered patient were recorded for 1984-86 to compare use of out of hours services by patients before and after the introduction of the project. Out of hours attendance rates fell by 35% (from 0.17 per annum to 0.11 per annum) overall and by 61% in young children. The total annual attendance rate dropped by 14% (from 5.13 to 4.43) during the same period, but fell by only 1% over the same period at a similar practice in Osnabruck. The decrease was particularly marked for out of hours attendances which the doctor classified as lower urgency: attendances classed as very low urgency decreased by 78% between 1984 and 1986 but those classed as medium urgency decreased by only 2%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)