TY - JOUR T1 - Council tax valuation bands and contacts with a GP out-of-hours service JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 283 LP - 285 VL - 56 IS - 525 AU - Norman Beale AU - Gordon Taylor AU - Mark Gwynne AU - Carole Peart Y1 - 2006/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/56/525/283.abstract N2 - UK GPs are no longer responsible for the organisation of out-of-hours care for their patients, but resources remains capitation-based. This cross-sectional study tests whether council tax valuation bands can predict the demand for such services. All out-of-hours contacts made by patients in North Wiltshire over 4 months were classified by council tax band; frequencies compared with official population statistics. Council tax band predicts out-of-hours GP workload irrespective of age and sex: the more modest the home, the higher the GP contact rate. It may prove more difficult to sustain out-of-hours services in deprived parts of the UK. ER -