Acute medicine in a general practitioner hospital

Admissions during 1980 to a hospital staffed by general practitioners are analysed. Almost all (94 per cent) were acute admissions. The mean length of stay was 11.7 days and the mean age of the patients 63.3 years, with 40 per cent of them under 65 years of age. Two thirds of the patients were discharged to their homes and only 7 per cent of patients spent more than four weeks in hospital. General practitioner hospitals have medical, social and economic advantages over large district hospitals for certain acutely ill patients and have an important role in primary medical care.