General-practitioner ward in a district general hospital.

A general-practitioner ward, made available at the local hospital, was used by 34 of 64 local practitioners offered contracts by the regional board. Four of the five doctors in our practice took up contracts, and we were responsible for 119 admissions (100 patients) in one year. Had the general-practitioner ward not been available 73 hospital admissions would have been needed; in 27 cases care at home would have been the alternative, while the remaining 19 patients could have been seen as outpatients. Only seven consultant opinions were sought during the year.