GPs lobby for 24-hour access to diagnostic facilities

GPs have called for 24-hour access to diagnostic facilities as an urgent and essential first step in easing pressure on hospital emergency departments (EDs).

Because of the current “illogical situation”, GPs are forced to refer patients to already overcrowded EDs for simple diagnostic tests, a lobby group has claimed.

The National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) has made a number of proposals to ease ED overcrowding in a submission to the Emergency Department Taskforce.