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Cited by 120Primary Care and Health OutcomesPatient Satisfaction in HealthcarePatient-Provider Communication in Healthcare

Personal continuity and access in UK general practice: a qualitative study of general practitioners' and patients' perceptions of when and how they matter

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Guthrie, Bruce, Wyke, Sally·2006·BMC Family Practice
DOI 10.1186/1471-2296-7-11PMC PMC1413534
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Abstract

Background: Personal continuity is a core value for family practice, but policy and performance targets emphasise other aspects of care, particularly waiting times for consultation. This study examined patient and general practitioner (GP) perceptions of the value of personal continuity and rapid access, and the relationship between them. Methods: Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 GPs and 32 patients in the Lothian region of Scotland, to identify whether, how, why and in which circumstances personal continuity and rapid access were valued. Results: From the patients' perspective, what mattered was 'access to appropriate care' depending on the problem to be dealt with. For a few patients, rapid access was the only priority. For most, rapid access was balanced against greater involvement in the consultation when seeing 'their' trusted doctor, which was particularly valued for chronic, complex and emotional problems. GPs focused on the value of personal continuity in the consultation for improving the diagnosis and management of the same kinds of problem. GPs did not perceive enabling access to be a core part of their work. There was little evidence that GPs routinely discussed with patients when or how personal continuity and access should be balanced. Conclusion: 'Access to appropriate care' from the patients' perspective is not fully addressed by GPs' focus on personal continuity, nor by performance targets focused only on speed of access. GPs need to make enabling access as much a part of their core values as personal continuity, and access targets need to be based on less simplistic measures that account for the appropriateness of care as well as speed of access.

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  • The linkage between quality home care and continuity of care in the literature, and broadly speaking, relational continuity in health care has led to more effective and efficient diagnosis and management of health problems and a means of building patient trust.

    “The linkage between quality home care and continuity of care in the literature [44], and broadly speaking, relational continuity in health care has led to more effective and efficient diagnosis and management of health problems and a means of building patient trust [45].”

    From The hospital-to-home care transition experience of home care clients: an exploratory study using patient journey mapping (2023) · cites this paper as [45]

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  1. Commission for Health Improvement What CHI has found in primary care trusts: sector report 2004 London, Commission for Health Improvement

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Related

Authors
Guthrie, B., & Wyke, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Dundee (GB)
  • University of Stirling (GB)
Corresponding author
Guthrie, Bruce
ORCID
Venue
BMC Family Practice
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2006-02-24
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
11-11
ISSN
1471-2296 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1471-2296-7-11
PMC
PMC1413534
OpenAlex
W1522502748
Cited by
120
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 11
FWCI
14.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Family Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
Keywords
general practitioners, patient perspectives, GP perceptions, waiting time, performance goals, physician-patient relationship
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Attitude of Health Personnel, Continuity of Patient Care, Family Practice, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Physician-Patient Relations, Physicians, Family, Scotland, Time Factors, Patient Satisfaction, Quality Indicators, Health Care, Qualitative Research

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