[The new list patient system and emergency service in Bergen]

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of patients seeking emergency care, with special emphasis on the role of the recently introduced list patient system.

During a twelve-day period in January 2003, patients seeking emergency care in Bergen, Norway were asked to fill in a questionnaire that explored whether they knew the name of the physician on whose list they were, their assessment of the accessibility of this physician, whether they had tried to contact him or her prior to coming in for emergency care, why they had contacted emergency care, and if they were willing to wait one or several days for a consultation if they were certain to get an appointment with their own physician.

1504 questionnaires were analyzed (72% of the study population). Most patients knew the name of their physician (84%) and were reasonably satisfied with his or her accessibility. Nevertheless, three in four patients had not tried to contact their physician prior to coming in to the emergency centre. Half of them were willing to wait until the next day to see their personal physician.

There is a considerable potential for change of patient behaviour in primary care emergencies.