The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Multicenter Study
Rural general practitioners' experience of the provision of out-of-hours care: a qualitative study.
Published research into the provision and utilisation of out-of-hours services shows long-term trends towards decreasing personal commitment among general practitioners (GPs). However, the on-call commitments of rural GPs remain especially onerous. There has been little research relating to either rural out-of-hours services or the implications of such services for the families of the providers. ⋯ System difficulties, such as difficulty with obtaining locums and rota extension, need to be addressed at an organisational level. Patient expectations of the role of the rural GP have significant implications for practitioners and their families.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A national evaluation of specialists' clinics in primary care settings.
Encouraged by the increased purchasing power of general practitioners (GPs), specialist-run clinics in general practice and community health care settings (known as specialist outreach clinics) have increased rapidly across England. The activities of local commissioning schemes within primary care groups are likely to accelerate this trend. ⋯ Outreach clinics are a means of improving access to specialist services for patients, in addition to improving the efficiency and quality of health care. Most results were similar across specialties and areas. The benefits of the outreach service need to be weighed against their substantially higher NHS costs, in comparison with outpatients clinics. Outreach clinics are unlikely to be financially justifiable for NHS funding given that the impact on patients' health status was small.
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This survey of 152 rural general practitioners (GPs) studied the impact of patient suicide on their professional and personal lives. The response rate was 79%, with the average GP encountering a patient suicide every three years. The reactions of GPs to patient suicide were similar to those expressed by other health care workers. Factors that lessened the effects of patient suicide were identified and most GPs indicated their preference for a support system to be established to facilitate GPs in dealing with the aftermath of practice suicide.