Emergency referral letters from deputising doctors need to be improved

EDITOR,—Clearly, the service provided out of hours by general practitioners must be restructured if it is to remain of high quality. Various options are being considered, including cooperatives and overnight medical centres. In their survey Val Lattimer and colleagues found that general practitioners were keen to try these options.1 The new agreement gives doctors the opportunity to transfer their out of hours responsibility to a deputising service.2 This service will still be needed, no matter which options become established. …