Night calls: an Irish dimension

Abstract

Night calls made by 17 general practitioners in Cork in the Republic of Ireland in 1980 were analysed and compared with similar studies in the UK. There were 323 night calls: 11 per cent were classified as irresponsible, 59 per cent of which involved patients in social classes IV and V who make up 26.5 per cent of the population of Cork. Young children and the elderly had more calls than expected, and significant sex differences emerged in all age groups apart from the 45-65 age group. The incidence of night calls done comes towards the lower range of studies in the UK.