Primary care: core values Patients' priorities

Abstract

This is the last in a series of six articles reflecting on the core values that will underpin the development of primary care Series editor: Mike Pringle How to run a 24 hour system of general practice has been a bone of contention between general practitioners and the public in recent years. 12 Doctors are loath to continue doing their own on-call work at nights and weekends. 34 Patients, however, prefer to see their own doctor or a general practitioner from their own practice, 56 where the service may be better,7 rather than a doctor from an agency that provides the on-call service. 89 This is the nub of the difference in perception between doctors and patients (and to some extent between healthcare professionals and the general public) about the quality of service they would like to see, and that difference in perception is one which needs to be taken seriously. When asked, patients express a wish to be involved in planning services and their delivery, 1011 and practices find this process worthwhile. 1112 And yet, radical changes in out of hours services have occurred without overt consultation with patients. General practitioner service in particular, and primary care services in general, are the jewelin the NHS crown for much of the British public.13 There is no doubt …