OUT-OF-HOURS SERVICE IN DENMARK - EVALUATION 5 YEARS AFTER REFORM

Objective: Five years after its introduction, to evaluate the 1992 ref orm in the out of hours service in Denmark. Design: Comparison of data before and after reform. Data were collected from published reports, Danish national health statistics, and the Danish trade union for gene ral practitioners. Setting: Denmark. Main outcome measures: Number of out of hours services; workload of general practitioners; cost of the service; patient satisfaction. Results: Five years after the reform, t he percentage of telephone consultations had almost doubled, to 48%. C onsultations in doctors' surgeries were relatively unchanged, but home visits were much reduced, to 18%. The percentage of doctors who worke d 5 hours or more out of hours per week dropped from about 70% to abou t 50%. Overall patient satisfaction in 1995 was high (72%). Conclusion : The organisation of the out of hours service, with a fully trained g eneral practitioner in a telephone triage function, is working satisfa ctorily. Many calls that previously would have required home visits ar e now dealt with by telephone or through consultations. The out of hou rs workload for general practitioners has decreased considerably.