The European journal of general practice
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Improvement of access to general practice is a priority in England. In 2006/07 an annual national survey of patient experience of access was introduced, with financial incentives to practices based on the findings of the survey among their own patients. ⋯ The launch of the incentive scheme was not followed by convincing improvements in patient experience of access. Practices with deprived populations or with a high proportion of ethnic minority survey respondents are perceived as offering worse access, were not more likely to achieve improvements, and additional support should be considered to help these practices.
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Assessing prescription patterns of asthma medication for children is helpful to optimize prescribing by general practitioners (GPs). The aim was to explore prescription patterns in children with physician-diagnosed asthma and its determinants in general practice. ⋯ In general practice, the annual number of asthma prescriptions per child with asthma is relatively low. One in 20 children is prescribed bronchodilators only continuously, indicating room for improvement. Child and GP characteristics cannot be used for targeting educational efforts.
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Palliative sedation is increasingly used at the end of life by general practitioners (GPs). ⋯ Continuous deep sedation until death, as practiced by Belgian GPs, is in most cases used for patients with unbearable suffering. Competent patients are not always involved in decision making while in most cases, the patient's family is.