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Primary Care Pharmacy March 2000 Vol 1 No 2 p60

News

Shaping tomorrow: issues facing general practice in the new millennium

Shaping tomorrow: issues facing general practice in the new millennium is a discussion document written by Chris Mihill and published by the BMA General Practitioners Committee. It is to be sent to all GPs in the UK, politicians, health care managers and patients' organisations. It asks many questions about the future of primary care, posing new ideas and challenges not just for GPs but for the other health care professions too, and seeks opinions from patients, GPs, nurses, professions allied to medicine and pharmacists. The main issues include:

  • Do patients need to have their "own doctor" or would they be happier with fast access by a competent professional?
  • Do patients have to be seen by the GP at every visit or would the nurse, pharmacist or profession allied to medicine sometimes be as, or more, appropriate?
  • Should GPs continue to be independent practitioners or might a salaried service be appropriate?
  • GP career expectations are changing. Fewer doctors may chose to commit a lifetime to one practice and may be reluctant to buy a partnership.
  • Is there still a role for the GP in assessment of which patients require secondary care referral or will walk-in clinics and the NHS direct change this?
  • Will primary care groups encourage a collective more accountable approach to health care or stifle innovation?
  • Will health care quality be improved through revalidation schemes, audit, continuing professional development and clinical governance?
  • What will be the influence of funding and rationing and will this lead to the growth of private medicine systems in primary care?
  • What will the pressures be in the future?
  • Will relationships with secondary care, community services, nurses, pharmacists and public health develop and if so what effect will this have?
  • What are the specific issues facing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and will health care services vary significantly according to the different structures?
  • What do patients want?

The document can be downloaded it at http://web.bma.org.uk/gpc.nsf/webdocsvw/Shaping