A traumatic day

Peter, how refreshing to see the skills we have developed over so many years being used effectively, for the benefit of the patient and saving money! This of course takes bravery as the lowest common denominator is always the easiest route. However 'real' cash will be the driver to this sort of thinking. At the moment in a rushed and stressful day calling an ambulance or RMO referral is a lifesaver (for the GP!). How do we raise our game as a profession and educate the public that the days of a social visit are numbered? Anne-Marie Houlder

I really like this approach, which I am imbibing from my trainer. but we are lucky in the area to have a well organised urgent care team to look after patients like 1) needing antibiotics for infected laparotomy wounds 2) dealing with minor injuries, 3) the scenario of DVT is currently being managed by us by starting clexane and getting the Doppler, as the Doppler canot always happen the same day and this is what happens with referral to the hospital DVT service (but sometimes needs liason). I wonder if there could be one patient slot kept open in al sessions, so patients who need urgent follow up can be booked into this by the same GP seeing them?
Bottom line - we need more district nurses and support services like the urgent care team, but unfortunately, these are being cut without a second thought. Mohamed Amin