GPs can now opt out of working in the evening and on the weekend
More children are being taken to hospital for minor illnesses because of doctor availability out-of-hours. Such problems like coughs and colds are being treated in hospitals because parents don't have the access to doctors in the evenings and on the weekends. Research revealed that the number of children being taken to A&E with health problem that would normally be dealt with by the family doctor has gone up by 42 per cent in the last decade. The records of more than 39,000 children who attended A&E in 2007/08 were compared with the records from ten years earlier by researchers from Nottingham Children's Hospital and the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University. They found that 85 per cent turned up with medical problems such as breathing difficulties, a fever, diarrhoea, a rash or a cough. This was 42 per cent higher compared with ten years ago. Since 2004 when the GPs' new contract was introduced doctors have been able to opt out of working evenings and weekends.