Researchers say that starting an after-hours GP clinic in Wagga has been found to reduce the number of patients visiting the emergency department at Wagga Base Hospital.

Research published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia revealed that the emergency department has cured 7.04 fewer “low urgency” patients every day since the clinic started in 2003.

The total number of people visiting the emergency department fell by 8%, giving employees more time to take care of patients with greater needs and attend emergency cases.

Statistician David Buckley said that the research had discovered “strong evidence” of a connection, between opening an after-hours health center and the decline in number of patient at the emergency department.

Inspection into patient movements in Wagga was conducted over a 10-year period.

It was also found that an additional 1.36 patients every day were rated as instantaneously or imminently serious.

Mr. Buckley said that, time and again after-hours GP clinics were calculated based on their capacity to assist patients who kept waiting for long in an emergency department, a problem dubbed as “access block”.

He said, “The effect of after-hours clinics is often examined in the context of their ability to reduce access block, where their value is often considered limited”.

The Wagga GP After-Hours Service is an answer to community demand, and intends to diminish the workload of emergency departments.

Ever since it has been launched, over 30,000 patients have approached them, according to the service’s website.