September 6, 2016

expert reaction to study investigating the association between extending access to primary care and visits to emergency departments

Extension of access to primary care is the subject of a paper published in the journal PLOS Medicine in which the authors report that extending access was associated with a reduction in emergency department visits in their study of cases in 2014.

Prof. Julian Bion, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Birmingham, said:

“This study is methodologically strong, the conclusions important, and the results are likely to be real, not artifactual.  It would be interesting to know why overall emergency department attendances did not diminish, despite a reduction in minor attendances from the extended hours practices: the authors do not seem to explain this apparent conundrum.  A question not addressed by this research is whether extended hours GP home visits (as opposed to extended surgery hours) would affect the care of more severely ill patients, either through more timely referral or by avoiding hospital admission.”

‘Associations between Extending Access to Primary Care and Emergency Department Visits: A Difference-In-Differences Analysis’ by Whittaker et al. published in PLOS Medicine on Tuesday 6th September. 

Declared interests

Prof. Julian Bion: “Chief Investigator, HiSLAC Project. Chair, NICE Acute Medical Emergencies Guideline Development Group, National Clinical Guideline Centre. Royal Airforce Civilian Advisor in Intensive Care Medicine. Chair, Novel Therapies Committee, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Chair, Clinical Trials Oversight Committee, University of Birmingham. I also have a research advisory consultancy with Nestle for which I think I receive an honorarium worth £1000 last year and this year.  I use this to support my research fellows’ access to study leave.”