Does setting up out of hours primary care cooperatives outside a hospital reduce demand for emergency care?

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the reorganisation of out of hours primary care, from practice rotas to GP cooperatives, changed utilisation of primary and hospital emergency care. METHODS During a four week period before and a four week period after the reorganisation of out of hours primary care in a region in the south of the Netherlands all patient contacts with general practitioners and hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments were analysed. RESULTS A 10% increase was found in patient contacts with out of hours primary care, and a 9% decrease in patient contacts with out of hours emergency care. The number of self referrals at the A&E department was reduced by about 4%. CONCLUSIONS The reorganisation of out of hours primary care has led to a shift in patient contacts from emergency care to primary care.