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GPs working for the government in a UTC - Urgent Treatment Centre?
It worked well in the early stages of a pandemic for which we were ill prepared but, as we neared normality...
the vast majority of work consisted of dealing with minor injuries. This was outside the scope of practice of most GPs and a subsequent survey of GPs demonstrated it was not considered an appropriate use of skills.
Furthermore, it is an expensive way of dealing with these problems, which could be managed by advanced practitioner nurses and junior doctors.
On current evidence, it is unlikely to prevent more than 14% of admissions which would equate to <= two admissions a day.
Admission avoidance would need to account for the cost of UTC GPs and further care costs in the community, which do not appear to have been ascertained to date.
An initial better use of resources would include timely, pathway-driven access to diagnostics, which would both help to reduce the need for admission and inappropriate outpatient appointments.