National evaluation of general practitioner commissioning pilots: lessons for primary care groups.

BACKGROUND: The national evaluation of general practitioner (GP) commissioning pilots was commissioned by the Department of Health in 1997 as part of its Policy Research Programme. It was conducted by the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham. AIM: To monitor the development of the 40 national pilot sites, identify the factors that inhibited or facilitated progress, and consider the implications for the implementation and development of primary care groups (PCGs). METHOD: Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with GPs, health authority (HA) managers, and pilot managers from each of the 40 pilot sites (141 interviews in total) and focus group discussions with nurses, social services officers, and community health council officers in the 40 sites. RESULTS: Stakeholders reported the key achievements of the pilots during their first six months as being improved collaboration between GPs, the establishment of organisational arrangements, and work towards managing the group prescribing budget. Obstacles for the groups included changes to government policy regarding primary care, the workload involved for clinical staff, the pilots' relationship with the local HA, and problems with information management and technology (IM&T). A more detailed analysis of the pilots' management arrangements, prescribing work, IM&T support, and stakeholder involvement points to a set of lessons for emerging PCGs. CONCLUSIONS: In their early stages of development, PCGs are likely to focus on issues of structure and process. Prescribing will be an area receiving particular attention, prefiguring some of the challenges of clinical governance in primary care. IM&T will prove to be more problematic than first assumed. The involvement of a wider range of stakeholders will be addressed by primary care groups, particularly in relation to GPs and nurses.     

Providing palliative care in primary care: how satisfied are GPs and district nurses with current out-of-hours arrangements?

The complex needs of palliative care patients require an informed, expert, and swift response from out-of-hours general medical services, particularly if hospital admission is to be avoided. Few general practitioners (GPs) reported routinely handing over information on their palliative care patients, particularly to GP co-operatives. District nurses and inner-city GPs were least satisfied with aspects of out-of-hours care. Most responders wanted 24-hour availability of specialist palliative care. This indicates a need to develop and evaluate out-of-hours palliative care procedures and protocols, particularly for GP co-operatives, and to improve inter-agency collaboration.     

General practitioners' use and experiences of palliative care services: a survey in south east England

Background  

The role of the General Practitioner (GP) is central to community palliative care. Good liaison between the different professionals involved in a patient's care is extremely important in palliative care patients. In cases where GPs have previously been dissatisfied with palliative services, this may be seen as a barrier to referral when caring for other patients. The aim of this survey is to investigate the use and previous experiences of GPs of two palliative care services, with particular emphasis on barriers to referral and to explore issues surrounding the GP's role in caring for palliative patients.     

Can primary care groups learn how to manage demand from fundholders? A study of fundholders in Nottingham.

BACKGROUND: Primary care groups (PCGs) will commission care for their patients and may be increasingly required to manage clearly defined resources. Existing general practice fundholders already operate in this environment, but can PCGs learn from the experience of fundholders in managing demand? AIM: To explore how general practice fundholders manage demand for hospital and community health services, and for prescribing. METHOD: A general practitioner (GP), and a fundholding manager from each of 26 practices were invited to take part. Questionnaires were developed, with structured and semi-structured components, and piloted in three practices. Interviews were conducted between October 1996 and February 1997 by the same interviewer (MDT). RESULTS: All practices stated that they were monitoring their waiting lists and giving priority to patients whose problems had become worse, but eight of the 23 GPs felt that they were unable to manage demand. Eight of the 15 fundholders who had developed in-house services actively managed the waiting list for these clinics. All fundholders had identified areas of unmet demand. Widely differing methods for increasing supply to meet demand were identified, and are described. Formularies were used by 12 out of the 23 fundholders. Guidelines were only considered useful by eight of the 23 practices; fundholders from later waves were less likely to find guidelines useful than fundholders from earlier waves (odds ratio [OR] = 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0 to 0.96). Private specialist surgery was less likely to be accessed by later wave fundholders using the fund than by early wave fundholders (OR = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.09 to 0.97). CONCLUSION: Fundholders in Nottingham had not developed consistent approaches to managing demand within limited resources. Given the apparent diversity of attitudes and practices, the larger PCGs will require strong support to develop the intended commissioning function.     

Primary care units in A&E departments in North Thames in the 1990s: initial experience and future implications.

BACKGROUND: In 1992, the Tomlinson Report recommended a shift from secondary to primary care, including specific primary care provision in accident and emergency (A&E) departments. Availability of short-term so-called Tomlinson moneys allowed a number of experimental services. A study of the experience of A&E-based staff is reported to assist general practitioners (GPs) and purchasers and identify areas for further research. AIMS: To find the number and scope of primary care facilities in A&E services in North Thames; to find factors encouraging or inhibiting the setting-up of a successful service; to examine the views of a range of A&E staff including GPs, consultants, and nurses; and to suggest directions for more specific research. METHOD: A postal questionnaire was sent to all North Thames A&E departments, and an interview study of staff in one unit was arranged, leading to a questionnaire study of all GPs employed in North Thames primary care services in A&E. This was followed by interviews of staff members in five contrasting primary care units in A&E. RESULTS: By mid-1995, at least 16 of the 33 North Thames A&E departments ran a primary care service. Seven mainly employed GPs, the others employed nurse practitioners (NPs). Problems for GPs included unclear role definition and their non-availability at times of highest patient demand. GPs' reasons for working in A&E sometimes differed from the aims of primary care in an A&E service. Staff interviews revealed differing views about their role and about use of triage protocols. Ethnicity data were being collected, but not yet being used, to improve service to patients. CONCLUSIONS: A number of benefits follow the introduction of primary care practitioners into A&E. Different models have evolved, with a variety of GP and NP staffing arrangements according to local ideas and priorities. There is some confusion over whether these services aim to improve A&E-based care or to divert it to general practice. Cost information is inadequate so far, though the use of GPs has shown the possibility of economy. Appropriate location of services requires clearer identification of costs. This may be possible for the proposed primary care groups.     

Stroke services in general practice--are they satisfactory?

BACKGROUND: The contribution of general practice and primary care teams to stroke care has received surprisingly little attention despite research evidence on the importance of coordinated care. AIM: To determine general practitioners' (GPs') and their patients' satisfaction with hospital and community services for stroke patients in Grampian Region, Scotland. METHOD: A questionnaire survey of 138 stroke patients and their GPs was carried out six weeks after each patient was discharged home between June 1995 and January 1996. Outcomes measured were GP and patient satisfaction with services, Barthel Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scores, London Handicap Score, and Homsat and Hospsat scores (satisfaction with stroke services). RESULTS: Response rates of 95% (131) for GPs and 91% (125) for patients were obtained. GPs and patients were generally satisfied with services. Stroke patients were more likely to have had contact with their GP than with any other service. Adverse comments from GPs focused on problems with hospital discharge letters. At six weeks, patients received an average of 2.5 community services and 1.5 hospital services, but there was wide variation across disability groups. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of satisfaction were high, but the wide range and variation in services used by patients emphasized the complexity of the primary care of stroke patients; the need for coordination, review and effective links with hospital; and the key role of the GP.     

Determining priorities for change in primary care: the value of practice-based needs assessment.

BACKGROUND: Primary care is being expected to expand the range of services it provides, and to take on many of the tasks traditionally provided in secondary care. At the same time, general practitioners (GPs) will become increasingly responsible for assessing their patients' health care needs and commissioning care from other providers. This article describes an approach taken in one general practice to meet these difficult challenges. AIM: To examine whether information on health and health care needs, when used as the basis for a priority setting exercise, can provide a useful first step in planning primary care provision within a practice. METHOD: A three-stage process of information-gathering from a number of sources, including continuous data recording of patient contacts and a postal survey of all adults registered with the practice, identification of key findings and discussion of associated issues, and priority setting of proposals for practice development using the nominal group technique. RESULTS: Continuous data recording of patient contacts with GPs and the practice nurse provided data on 4489 GP contacts with 2027 patients, 1000 district nurse contacts with 101 patients, and 361 health visitor contacts with 172 clients. More than 70% of patient records had been computerized, with 600 diagnostic READ codes identified and 11,500 separate entries made. The socioeconomic and health survey questionnaire achieved an 84% response rate. Following the priority-setting exercise, 28 proposed practice developments were identified. These were reduced to a final list of eight. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive method of practice-based needs assessment, when used as the basis for some form of priority setting, has great potential in helping to plan primary care services within a practice. The success of such initiatives will require a substantial investment of resources in primary care and fundamental changes to the way in which primary care is funded.     

Experiences, knowledge, and opinions on palliative care among Romanian general practitioners

Aim

To assess experience, knowledge, and opinions of Romanian general practitioners (GPs) on palliative health care in Romania.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was performed among 1283 GPs in five districts of Romania in 2004. The data were collected on the GPs’ self-assessed experience in, knowledge of, and opinion on palliative care, entered into a database, and analyzed. The GPs were also asked to indicate if they needed to improve their knowledge about palliative care.

Results

The response rate was 71%. GPs mostly reported having limited experience in providing palliative care, with 24% reporting to have provided palliative care frequently, and 55% reporting to have it provided sometimes. Significant correlations were found between the GPs’ experience in palliative care provision and their age, sex, and place of work. The majority of Romanian GPs reported that their medical knowledge was inadequate for the provision of care to terminal patients at home. Over 80% of GPs agreed to develop palliative care services and to participate in a training program.

Conclusion

GPs in Romania reported to recognize the need for improvement of palliative care delivery in their country. They expressed the need for better knowledge of palliative care and agreed that multidisciplinary teams to provide palliative care at home would be the best form of delivering this type of health care.Palliative care is a relatively new form of health care provision in Central-Eastern European (CEE) countries unlike in Western Europe, where it has been an established health care specialty for decades (1,2). The most widely used model of palliative care provision in CEE countries is the hospice model. However, the number and availability of hospices and financial means allocated to these institutions have been insufficient, and the population in need of palliative care has been increasing. Palliative care professionals are less focused on the needs of patients and possible development of a new model for palliative care provision than they are on the “vested interests” of the model, ie, preventing the hospices in which they work from being closed down.With aging of the population, the morbidity profile in CEE countries has changed and so have the health care needs. The need for nursing and care, including palliative care, is increasing and largely uneven distribution of medical care facilities between urban and rural areas only aggravates the problem. All these factors bring the palliative care issues to focus (3).Until recently, palliative care in Romania and many CEE countries was primarily associated with terminal care of patients with cancer and the hospice movement (4,5). In the last few years, however, the hospice model as a preferred model of palliative care has been reevaluated and questioned by many (3). Because of the over-institutionalization of health care and the decrease in the number of hospital beds, health care policymakers are increasingly thinking about promoting palliative care at home, which would be supported by a palliative care team (1). Furthermore, people in most CEE countries prefer to die at home, as there is still a strong tradition of family care (6).The expectation of the Romanian primary health care system, which includes general practitioners (GPs) and nurses, to play an important role in palliative care at home is relatively far from realization. Not only that this aspect of health care provision is new and partly unknown to great majority of GPs, but the complementary services and expertise in home care and pain management are not well developed either. This problem is also present in Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia (1), where various initiatives are being taken to develop palliative care as the need for it increases. As Doyle et al (7) have stated, palliative care at home is dependent on the attitudes and perceptions of family physicians and wider socio-cultural attitudes. Also, the lack of information on the latest techniques and developments in palliative care may prohibit the development of that health care area (8).The first hospices in Romania were established in Oradea and Brasov (9); by 2004, five hospices had been opened. Although a government policy from 1998 tried to strengthen the role of the GP in the health care delivery system (10), no systematic attention had been given to palliative care in general practice or hospitals until 2002 (4). Thereafter, family physicians have increasingly started to provide palliative care, but they have not been reimbursed for the service. Thus, it may be said that the efforts to develop a system of palliative care provision in Romania are still not organized.We asked GPs in five districts in Romania to self-assess their experience in palliative care provision, their knowledge and need for better education in palliative care, and their opinion on the best way to deliver this type of care.     

Palliative care at home: an audit of cancer deaths in Grampian region.

BACKGROUND: Ninety per cent of the last year of life of cancer patients is spent at home. Some studies have suggested that care in this setting is often suboptimal. Information on the standard of palliative care delivered at home by general practitioners (GPs) and their teams is limited, and clarification of the problems faced is needed. AIM: To audit the home-based palliative care of patients dying of cancer. METHOD: Matched postal questionnaires were sent to the GPs and nurses of 1086 successive patients dying of cancer in whatever setting in the Grampian region of Scotland some six weeks after the death to establish the professionals' perception of symptom control, communication problems, use of services, and information given to patients and relatives. RESULTS: Response rates were 88.8% for GPs (964 out of 1086) and 87.1% for nurses (325 out of 375 that were passed on to nurses). Two-thirds of patients received palliative care at home. Pain was poorly controlled in 15.7%, and poor control of other symptoms ranged from 13.8% (nausea and vomiting) to 21% (depression and dyspnoea). Communication difficulties were present in 93.7% of cases, although only 5.2% of these were of a major nature. District nurses were involved in 76.7% of cases and Macmillan nurses in 28.0%. Twenty-six per cent of referrals to district nurses were assessed as being late in the course of the illness. Patients were fully informed about the diagnosis in 66.3% of cases and about the prognosis in 55.4%. General practitioners were more likely to report the presence of communication problems between themselves and the patient (when compared with nurses: 43.9% versus 28.0%), more likely to report that patients were 'not at all informed' about self-help groups (57.5% versus 36.3%), and were less likely to report the involvement of occupational therapists (21.8% versus 39.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Levels of reporting of poor symptom control by professionals was much lower than levels reported by relatives in other studies, but there was no difference between the reporting of GPs and nurses. However, a number of areas were identified where care could be enhanced by improved teamwork and further education and training in symptom control, as well as in communication, use of services, and information provision.     

How common is medical training in palliative care? A postal survey of general practitioners.

BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) have a central role in palliative care, yet research continues to reveal room for improvement in symptom control at home. There is a need to evaluate how well-prepared GPs are for this task of caring for the dying at home. AIM: To evaluate the training in palliative care GPs have received throughout their careers. METHOD: Postal survey of 450 randomly selected East Anglian GP principals, investigating training in five areas of palliative care (pain control, control of other symptoms, communication skills, bereavement care, use of syringe driver), as clinical students, junior hospital doctors, GP trainees (registrars), and GP principals. RESULTS: A response rate of 86.7% was obtained. While GPs were clinical students, training was uncommon, (32% reported no training in pain control, and 58% no training in bereavement care), although there has been a significant increase in more recent years. Training as junior doctors was particularly uncommon (over 70% report no training in communication skills or bereavement care); there was some evidence of an increase in more recent years. During the GP trainee year, training was much more common. For GP principals, most areas had been covered, although over 20% reported no training in communication skills and bereavement care. During the community-based years as trainee and principal, training was significantly more common than during the hospital-based years of training as clinical student and junior doctor. CONCLUSIONS: There is a continuing need for medical education in palliative care. Particular attention should be paid to the basic medical education of clinical students and the training of junior doctors, especially regarding communication skills and bereavement care.     

Interprofessional relationships and communication in primary palliative care: impact of the Gold Standards Framework.

BACKGROUND: High quality end-of-life care in the community is achieved with effective multidisciplinary teamwork, interprofessional communication between GPs and district nurses, and early referral of patients to district nurses. These aspects of palliative care are highlighted in the Gold Standards Framework, a programme recently established in UK primary care. AIM: To investigate the extent to which the framework influences interprofessional relationships and communication, and to compare GPs' and nurses' experiences. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative interview case study. SETTING: Fifteen participating practices from three primary care trusts in England. METHOD: Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were undertaken with GPs, district nurses, Macmillan nurses, and framework facilitators. RESULTS: Adoption of the framework often resulted in earlier referral of palliative care patients to district nurses. Multidisciplinary team meetings enabled communication for sharing knowledge, discussing management problems, and keeping colleagues informed; however, arranging and maintaining such meetings was often problematic. Nurses particularly valued formal meetings while GPs generally preferred informal ad hoc dialogue. GPs largely maintained control of the mode of multidisciplinary working. The best functioning teams used a mixture of formal and informal meetings with a relatively non-hierarchical working style. CONCLUSION: Implementing the framework enabled processes of communication associated with high quality palliative care in general practice, but there was marked variation in how this worked in individual teams. In general, hierarchical doctor-nurse relationships persisted.     

The ACA training programme to improve communication between general practitioners and their palliative care patients: development and applicability

ABSTRACT: We describe the development of a new training programme on GP-patient communication in palliative care, and the applicability to GPs and GP Trainees. This 'ACA training programme' focuses on Availability of the GP for the patient, Current issues that should be raised by the GP, and Anticipating various scenarios. Evaluation results indicate the ACA training programme to be applicable to GPs and GP Trainees. The ACA checklist was appreciated by GPs as useful both in practice and as a learning tool, whereas GP Trainees mainly appreciated the list for use in practice.     

A survey of access to medical services in nursing and residential homes in England.

BACKGROUND: Residential and nursing homes make major demands on NHS services. AIM: To investigate patterns of access to medical services for residents in homes for older people. DESIGN OF STUDY: Telephone survey. SETTING: All nursing and dual registered homes and one in four residential homes located in a stratified random sample of 72 English primary care group/trust (PCG/T) areas. METHOD: A structured questionnaire investigating home characteristics, numbers of general practitioners (GPs) or practices per home, homes' policies for registering new residents with GPs, existence of payments to GPs, GP services provided to homes, and access to specialist medical care. RESULTS: There were wide variations in the numbers of GPs providing services to individual homes; this was not entirely dependent on home size. Eight percent of homes paid local GPs for their services to residents; these were more likely to be nursing homes (33%) than residential homes (odds ratio [OR] = 10.82, [95% CI = 4.48 to 26.13], P<0.001) and larger homes (OR for a ten-bed increase = 1.51 [95% CI = 1.28 to 1.79], P<0.001). Larger homes were more likely to encourage residents to register with a 'home' GP (OR for a ten-bed increase = 1.16 [95% CI = 1.04 to 1.31], P = 0.009). Homes paying local GPs were more likely to receive one or more additional services, over and above GPs' core contractual obligations. Few homes had direct access to specialist clinicians. CONCLUSION: Extensive variations in homes' policies and local GP services raise serious questions about patient choice, levels of GP services and, above all, about equity between residents within homes, between homes and between those in homes and in the community.     

Locality commissioning: how much influence have general practitioners really had?

This paper investigates the various models of locality commissioning in relation to the participation of general practitioners (GPs), and explores the perceived successes of locality commissioning in the 15 health boards in Scotland and 13 health authorities in the Northern and Yorkshire Region of England. A postal questionnaire was sent to 190 individuals involved in commissioning, and semi-structured interviews with GPs (n = 31) and health authority managers (n = 41) were undertaken in each of the 28 health authorities. Seventy-five per cent of the health authorities had introduced some form of locality commissioning. Five types of locality commissioning organization were identified on the basis of the level of GP influence over decisions. All GP responders identified benefits resulting from their involvement in the process but only 27% of health authority responders did so. Most benefits related to improved professional relationships, not to service changes. On the whole, locality commissioning does not appear to have resulted in major changes to contracts or services.     

GP and nurses' perceptions of how after hours care for people receiving palliative care at home could be improved: a mixed methods study

Background  

Primary health care providers play a dominant role in the provision of palliative care (PC) in Australia but many gaps in after hours service remain. In some rural areas only 19% of people receiving palliative care achieve their goal of dying at home. This study, which builds on an earlier qualitative phase of the project, investigates the gaps in care from the perspective of general practitioners (GPs) and PC nurses.     

Judgements about fellow professionals and the management of patients receiving palliative care in primary care: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Policies emphasise the importance of collaborative working in community palliative care. Collaborations are generally formed through formal and informal referral processes, but little is known about what influences professionals' decisions to refer to such services. AIM: To explore the influences on referrals within general and specialist community palliative care services. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative, multiple-case study. SETTING: Three primary care trusts in the north-west of England. METHOD: Multiple data collection methods were employed, including documentary analysis, observation of referral team meetings and interviews. This paper primarily reports data from interviews with 47 health professionals, including GPs, district nurses, and specialist palliative care professionals. RESULTS: Judgements -- positive and negative -- about aspects of fellow professionals' performances appeared to influence referral decisions and ongoing collaboration and care. Attributes upon which these judgements were based included professional responsiveness and communication, respect, working and workload management practices, perceived expertise, and notions of elite practice. The effects of such judgements on referral and healthcare practices were altered by professional "game playing" to achieve professionals' desired outcomes. CONCLUSION: Palliative care policies and protocols need to take account of these complex and subtle influences on referrals and collaboration. In particular, teamwork and partnership are encouraged within palliative care work, but critical judgements indicate that such partnerships may be difficult or fragile. It is likely that such judgemental attitudes and practices affect many aspects of primary care, not just palliative care.     

Prioritising referrals to a community mental health team.

BACKGROUND: Current national policies encourage prioritisation of people with severe mental illness (SMI) as well as the development of a primary care-led National Health Service. Where resources for mental health are limited, there is a potential conflict between the needs of people with SMI and the much more common depressive and anxiety disorders that form the bulk of the mental health workload in primary care. AIM: To describe the re-organisation of a community mental health team in order to prioritise people with SMI. METHOD: The number and type of referrals received in the 12 months before and after re-organisation were compared, and general practitioners' (GP) views on the changes sought. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in GP referrals of patients with less severe disorders in the second year. In both years the proportion of patients with a possible psychotic diagnosis or risk of self-harm was much higher among referrals from within the psychiatry department (92% of referrals) than among GP referrals (20% of referrals). Using data from a postal survey, 46% of referring GPs reported a significant improvement in the service provided to patients with SMI, but 34% reported a deterioration in services for other patient groups. GPs were more likely to be satisfied with the service for people with SMI than with the service for other patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in the service provided for those with SMI can be achieved, but this may be at the expense of services for other patient groups. Primary care groups will need to consider this potential conflict in setting priorities for mental health.     

Impact of pain and palliative care services on patients

Background:

Palliative care has become an emerging need of the day as the existing health-care facilities play only a limited role in the care of the chronically ill in the society. Patients with terminal illness in most cases spend their lives in the community among their family and neighbors, so there is the need for a multi disciplinary team for their constant care. Volunteers are primary care givers who originate normally from the same locality with local knowledge and good public contact through which they can make significant contributions in a team work by bridging the gap between the patient community and outside world.

Aim:

The present study has been undertaken to analyze the impact of palliative care services on patients by considering 51 variables.

Materials and Methods:

The respondents of the study include 50 pain and palliative care patients selected at random from 15 palliative care units functioning in Ernakulam district. The analysis was made by using statistical techniques viz. weighted average method, Chi-square test, Friedman repeated measures analysis of variance on ranks and percentages.

Results:

The study revealed that the major benefit of palliative care to the patients is the reduction of pain to a considerable extent, which was unbearable for them earlier. Second, the hope of patients could be maintained or strengthened through palliative care treatment.

Conclusion:

It is understood that the services of the doctors and nurses are to be improved further by making available their services to all the palliative care patients in a uniform manner.     

Health care providers' perceptions of telemedicine services.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of consensus among the administrative and health care leaders at rural Iowa hospitals regarding service gaps and priorities for developing telemedicine services. METHODS: In the summer of 1994, a survey was conducted of all rural hospital chief executive officers, chiefs of medical staffs, and directors of nursing in Iowa concerning their perceptions of telemedicine services. RESULTS: With the exception of teleradiology, few clinical specialties received high ratings as areas of need or priorities for the development of telemedicine. There was a general lack of agreement among respondents from the same hospital on such priorities. In contrast, respondents expressed higher priorities for the development of telemedicine-based educational services. CONCLUSIONS: The interest in teleradiology is consistent with the fact that teleradiology has been more thoroughly tested for medical efficacy than other telemedicine applications. Continuing medical education may represent another potential for widespread successful telemedicine application. Financial issues were reported as the greatest barriers to the development of telemedicine systems.