RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
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
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 283
OP 285
VO 56
IS 525
A1 Norman Beale
A1 Gordon Taylor
A1 Mark Gwynne
A1 Carole Peart
YR 2006
UL http://bjgp.org/content/56/525/283.abstract
AB 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.