Patients Happy To See Nurses Instead Of Doctors For Out-Of-Hours Care
A survey from MORI reveals that the public would be happy to let nurses care for less serious conditions at night instead of insisting on being treated by a doctor.
MORI found that almost 9 out of 10 people (88%) would be happy for nurses to deal with minor complaints at night rather than seeing a GP.
The poll also revealed that a similar proportion of the public is happy to deal with repeat prescriptions through their pharmacists (85%), consistent with previous research in 2002-3.
Q How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements about doctors...?
Base: 2,004
| 160 | Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | % | % | % | % | % | % |
| I would be happy to deal with a nurse at night rather than a doctor if my condition was not a serious one | 39 | 49 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| I'd be happy to see a pharmacist instead of my GP to repeat an existing prescription, if necessary | 47 | 39 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
Technical details
MORI Social Research Institute interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,004 adults aged 15+ in 196 sampling points across Great Britain, Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in-home, from 26 February - 2 March 2004, using CAPI (computer assisted personal interviewing). All data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.
