PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Jenny Field TI - Problems of urgent consultations within an appointment system DP - 1980 Mar 01 TA - The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners PG - 173--177 VI - 30 IP - 212 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/30/212/173.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/30/212/173.full SO - J R Coll Gen Pract1980 Mar 01; 30 AB - 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.