§ Mr. Adam Butlerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the proportion of patients treated in accident and emergency departments who are suffering from minor complaints and who could have been treated by their general practitioner; and what steps he is taking to relieve this strain on these departments.
§ Mr. AlisonWe have insufficient information on which to base such an estimate. Factors such as geographical position and local distribution of general practitioner and hospital services could be expected to cause wide variations between areas. We are currently considering the promotion of publicity to discourage casual attenders not in need of hospital attention from presenting themselves at accident and emergency departments.