After-Hours Care In The United Kingdom, Denmark, And The Netherlands: New Models

Key Points

• To examine organizational transitions in European after-hours medical services and assess the outcomes of primary care cooperatives in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
• Comparative health systems review evaluating transitions from local practice-based rotas to large-scale after-hours service models across the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
• Assessment of health service outcomes, physician workload, cost metrics, and patient satisfaction across primary care cooperative structures.
• Primary care cooperatives reduced physician workloads, decreased the volume of face-to-face patient contacts, reduced emergency department utilization and hospital admissions, and lowered total costs.
• Patient acceptance of the cooperative model remained generally high, though dissatisfaction occurred when patients specifically expected in-person physician consultations.
• Regional integration of all emergency and after-hours medical services emerged as the most promising organizational framework.