Open access to orthopaedic appliances for general practitioners

A clinic to which general practitioners can refer patients for some types of orthopaedic appliances was opened in North Clwyd in 1983. During 1985, 956 patients were referred by 82 general practitioners; 860 patients received an appliance, and the average waiting time was less than five weeks. Most referrals were for soft collars (44%), lumbar sacral supports (30%), and dorsilumbar supports (7%). Thirty eight patients failed to attend, 54 declined an appliance, and four referrals were considered to be inappropriate. A few patients were subsequently referred to consultant outpatient clinics, 22 for physiotherapy and 34 were referred simultaneously to the open access clinic. The referral rates for general practitioners with access to community hospitals were low. Such an arrangement merits wider consideration.     

Communication problems between dementia carers and general practitioners: effect on access to community support services

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the circumstances that led general practitioners to refer dementia sufferers and their carers to community support services. DESIGN: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews, carried out between 1 September 1999 and 30 April 2000. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 21 live-in carers of patients with dementia referred for the first time to a Western Australian metropolitan Aged Care Assessment Team, and 19 of their referring general practitioners. RESULTS: Most referrals occurred after the carers had been experiencing carer stress, and were precipitated by crisis situations. Carers failed to discuss their difficulties with the referring GP for a variety of reasons, including the belief that they should cope because it was their duty. The doctors found it difficult to know how the carers were coping or when to intervene, and some carers tended to resist their attempts to help. Time constraints were a significant problem for both groups. CONCLUSION: Attitudinal barriers in both carers of patients with dementia and GPs, combined with time constraints, often lead to inadequate assessment of carer problems. While it is important that strategies to improve communication between carers and GPs are developed, it would be sensible for GPs to assume that dementia carers are at risk of carer stress and should be encouraged to use community care services.     

Sigmoidoscopy/proctoscopy service with open access to general practitioners

Many hospitals now offer barium enema examinations to general practitioners on an open access basis, so bypassing the traditional sequence of first carrying out a sigmoidoscopy. An open access sigmoidoscopy/proctoscopy service was therefore opened with requests for a barium enema being denied unless preceded by sigmoidoscopy. During the first three and a half years 1458 patients referred direct from their general practitioners were examined using a rigid sigmoidoscope. Patients were also examined with a proctoscope if thought appropriate. After the first year of the service a subsequent examination with a fibreoptic sigmoidoscope was also carried out if the presenting symptom was bleeding for which no cause could be found with the rigid instruments. A total of 516 abnormalities were found to account for symptoms in 506 patients giving a diagnostic rate of 35%. The most common lesion was piles (307 cases). Other relatively common disorders included inflammatory bowel disease (107 cases), benign tumours (44), and malignant tumours (38). Of 41 patients subsequently undergoing fibreoptic sigmoidoscopy a cause for the bleeding was found in 32, the most common being a malignant tumour (16). Most general practitioners in the district used the service and a questionnaire survey indicated that most found it very helpful. Requests from general practitioners for a barium enema fell substantially over the period.     

Making access to health care more equal: the role of general medical services

The Resource Allocation Working Party (RAWP) recognised the need to consider both health authority and primary care services in achieving its objective. RAWP and the subsequent Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (AGRA) found (but did not publish) considerable variation in resources used by both services but could not find a clear relation between them. Statistics provided by the DHSS were used to compare spending by 80 area health authorities in 1980-1 with expenditure per head on general medical services by their corresponding family practitioner committees. There was considerable variation in the provision of resources for both services and no clear relation between the variations in spending on each service. Only 40 of the 80 areas had both health authority and family practitioner committee spending levels within 10% of "target." Subregional inequalities in resources tend to be related to variations in admission rates, which in turn are related to general practitioners' referral behaviour. These results emphasise the importance of finding out more about inequalities in the provision of general medical services and their relation to the use of hospital services. They also suggest that RAWP's aim of equality of opportunity of access to health care resources may be achieved only if general medical services are brought into the equation as well.     

Ethical dilemmas for general practitioners under the UK new contract.

Possible distributive justice frameworks for providing health care by general practitioners are discussed. The ethical considerations before and after the recent changes to the British National Health Service are contrasted, with particular emphasis on a possible ethical divide that has been produced between fund-holding and non-fund-holding general practitioners. It is argued that general practitioners in non-fund-holding practices can continue as ethical advocates for their patients and distribute health care within an egalitarian framework. However, those in fund-holding practices may now be seen as interest advocates and may have to practise utilitarian distributive justice. Patient groups may be needed to ensure that these general practitioners are seen to act justly in the distribution of the health care resources for which they are now responsible.     

Complementary therapies: the appeal to general practitioners

Pragmatism--among consumers seeking a cure and among general practitioners seeking clinical results and more patients--is not a complete explanation for the burgeoning of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Western societies. Instead, this growth is substantially a result of pervasive and rapid social change, alternatively termed 'globalisation' and 'postmodernisation'. Globalisation and postmodernisation are creating a new social reality, of which a prominent characteristic is the proliferation of consumer choice. GPs are enmeshed in this social change and subject to the trend to greater choice--both their patients' and their own. On the one hand, GPs are reacting to social change as "economic pragmatists", responding to consumers' increasing demand for CAM. On the other hand, GPs themselves are acting as agents of social change by acknowledging the limitations of orthodox biomedical treatments and promoting CAM as part of their service delivery. Lack of scientific validation of CAM has not prevented GPs' use of such therapies. The phrase "clinical legitimacy" can be seen as a trump card that overrides "scientific legitimacy". It is the shibboleth of a postmodern movement among GPs towards healing and the "art" of medicine, as opposed to the "science" of medicine per se.     

HIV infection: the challenge to general practitioners

The ability to control and treat the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic depends critically on care in the community, yet little is known about how primary care is responding to the challenge. The mere mention of AIDS raises huge anxieties for doctors as well as patients, and discussing sexual behavior rarely flows naturally from other aspects of routine consultations. Doctors should be discussing the risks of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections with most adults attending for immunizations for overseas travel and many patients consulting about contraception. With regard to actual tests for HIV antibodies, positive results found by general practitioners, especially in cases where there is no major risk factor, should be treated as false positives until confirmed by specialized tests. Doctors should seek to use each consultation to educate the patient about HIV infection.     

Medical services provided by general practitioners in residential aged-care facilities in Australia

We conducted a literature review to assess the current status of general practitioner services in residential aged-care facilities (RACFs) in Australia and the impact of recent initiatives to enhance access by RACF residents to these services. Of 400 publications identified, 22 were selected as relevant to our study. We also analysed publicly available statistical data on GP services in RACFs. Recent initiatives to improve quality of care and facilitate access to GP services for RACF residents include the Aged Care GP Panels Initiative, the Enhanced Primary Care program, and an expanded role of palliative care. Despite these initiatives, many GPs still find RACF services unappealing due to a perceived poor level of remuneration for the effort involved. Further improvements in access to and quality of GP services to RACFs may require new models of care delivery and financing.     

Re-licensing of general practitioners using the current UK revalidation proposals: a cross sectional study

Objective To explore the views of general practitioners (GPs) on the feasibility of collecting supporting information for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) revalidation portfolio and mapping of this evidence to the General Medical Practice framework for proposed UK medical re-licensing. Design Cross sectional study with a questionnaire. Setting One inner city and one mixed urban/rural primary care organisation in the West Midlands, England and one rural primary care organisation in Wales. Participants 51/69 GPs who submitted a revalidation portfolio from November 2009 to February 2010. Results The majority of GPs considered the majority of work based supporting information was feasible to collect within a 5 year revalidation cycle; most concerns were expressed about providing evidence for extended practice, learning credits, and patient satisfaction and colleague feedback surveys (59%, 63%, 72%, and 77%, respectively, of GPs considered it feasible to collect this evidence) due to workload time constraints and lack of automatic access to evidence from others, which differed by GP work role. Two-thirds of participants (65%) stated that the submission of a portfolio of evidence was a feasible component of GP revalidation, reporting reservations on the appropriateness of patient and colleague feedback surveys and extended practice (55%, 57%, and 59% respectively) to provide objective evidence. GPs requested further clarity on the evidence mapping process. Conclusion Overall, GPs reported a positive response to the RCGP revalidation proposals. Concerns were focused on collecting the newer types of supporting information and the ability of GPs non-principals to collect this evidence. GP revalidation training and preparation is required.     

综合性教学医院如何做好全科医生培训

加强社区卫生服务人才队伍建设是我国开展全科医学及社区卫生服务的关键之一,而全科医生是构成该人才队伍的核心。如何完善全科医生规范化培训具有十分重要的意义。综合性教学医院在全科医生培训方面应该起示范带头作用。     

Management of chronic heart failure: perceived needs of general practitioners in light of the new general medical services contract

Background: Despite the existence of several chronic heart failure (CHF) guidelines the treatment of patients with CHF is suboptimal. The new general medical services (GMS) contract in primary care has only three specific performance indicators for patients with left ventricular dysfunction. The aim of this current questionnaire survey was to assess the views of general practitioners (GPs) on CHF treatments and services in light of the new GMS contract. Methods and Results: All local GPs (717) were sent a questionnaire. Fifty three per cent were returned. Forty five per cent of GPs had access to a community CHF nurse. Having read a national guideline (SIGN) and having the support of a CHF nurse did not seem to affect the knowledge of GPs in terms of perceived benefits of drug treatments. GPs with access to a specialist CHF nurse service attached more importance to it than those with no specialist nurse (p = 0.003). Conclusions: Most GPs were aware of the existence of a national guideline but many had not read it. There was little or no difference in the knowledge level for various evidence based treatments between GPs who had or had not read the guideline suggesting that reading guidelines may not be a key factor in determining knowledge. Support for a specialist CHF nurse was higher among GPs who already had this service, suggesting that this service is valued. The new GMS contract may improve identification and diagnosis of patients with CHF but there is a danger that it may fall short of ensuring optimal treatment for patients with CHF.     

全科医师规范化培训的探索与实践

作为卫生部全科医师规范化培训试点基地,笔者通过多途径开展临床师资培训,如全科医学与社区卫生服务短期师资培训、院报宣传全科医学临床带教知识、全科医学教研室活动、社区卫生服务中心全科诊疗等,提高了临床师资的带教水平;通过改进临床培训方案及加强人文素质培养,如增加常见病的培训病例数、添加对肿瘤科和老年病科实践的具体要求,以及让学员参与党、团、工会组织的学习与活动、参与业务管理部门组织的医疗社会活动、参观人文景点、聆听知名医学专家的人文社会学讲座等,提高了全科医师规范化培训质量,对广泛开展全科医师规范化培训具有一定的借鉴意义。