[Referrals to an emergency unit before and after changes in the practitioner-on-call system].

Attendance at the casualty department of the Central Hospital in Naestved was investigated during two similar periods before and after changes were made in the practitioner-on-call system. The total number of patients admitted (either via casualty or referred from a practitioner) were registered. A total of 4454 attendances took place during the two periods, 2330 of these being before the changes and 2123 after the changes in the practitioner-on-call system. In the present material there were 1673 orthopaedic and 136 medical patients before and 1552 orthopaedic and 133 medical patients after the reorganization. No changes in medical specialities of the attendances in the two periods could be pointed out. 2110 patients were admitted to hospital in the first period, 2299 in the second period. The study concludes that no changes in the pattern of attendance at the casualty department could be shown after the reorganization in general practice.