Problems of urgent consultations within an appointment system.

Patients for whom there is no appointment who ask to be seen on the same day can be a source of irritation. During March 1978, 214 of these patients were compared with 749 who made appointments. No evidence was found that such patients were abusing the system, and almost half were found to be children. It was concluded that these consultations were inevitable, but the attitude of the doctors to them may have been affecting their management. The system used produces some loss of personal care, the effects of which need to be studied further.