Half of the capital's A&E attendances unnecessary, report suggests

The report, which said 13 London PCTs were in the worst quartile for A&E attendance, identified a “pan London opportunity of £8.4m from those minor tariff attendances resulting in either discharge without follow-up or discharge to GP”.

It highlighted an out-of-hours services attendance dashboard used by NHS Bolton which had coincided with a 3.23 per cent reduction in A&E attendances as a good example of a scheme to drive down A&E attendances.

The Pan London General Practice Outcome Standards & Technical Guidance document said: “Dissatisfied with the availability of GP services out of working hours , Londoners are instead using A&E departments for urgent care. Londoners are dissatisfied with the availability of GP services outside normal working hours - it is the only aspect of services provided by GPs with which there is net dissatisfaction. As a result Londoners are using A&E instead.”

The document, produced in January, was released under the Freedom of Information Act.