TY - JOUR T1 - The impact of NHS Direct on the demand for out-of-hours primary and emergency care JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 790 LP - 792 VL - 55 IS - 519 AU - James Munro AU - Fiona Sampson AU - Jon Nicholl Y1 - 2005/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/55/519/790.abstract N2 - In order to assess the impact of NHS Direct on out-of-hours primary and emergency care, we sought data on service demand from all GP cooperatives, ambulance services and emergency departments in England, Wales and Scotland. We analysed the impact of NHS Direct on demand, taking advantage of the fact that the service was introduced in waves over a period of 2 years. The results showed that the introduction of NHS Direct was associated with a reduction in calls to GP cooperatives, but with no evident effect on emergency services. ER -