BMJ 2002;325:166 ( 20 July )

Letters

Can nurse practitioners provide equivalent care to GPs?

    Nurses and doctors working together can complement each other
    More studies of these nurses' technique are needed
    Nurse practitioners increase access to quality health care for many patients
    More methodologically sound investigations are needed

Nurses and doctors working together can complement each other

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Horrocks et al consider whether nurse practitioners working in primary care can provide equivalent care to doctors.1 It has reinforced much of my experience as a nurse running a general practice under the auspices of a personal medical services pilot.

My practice has been open for three and a half years and operates the philosophy that patients should be seen by the most appropriate person to help them. On average, 65% of patients choose to see the nurse and a small proportion of those require referral back to a general practitioner.

Concerns for patient satisfaction arose from my need to ensure the acceptability of a nurse led service to patients. By establishing a mechanism to listen to patients' concerns about their health and including patient representatives in the management of the practice, we have developed a service with a high standard of patient satisfaction.

Some may argue that . . . [Full text of this article]
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Knight, R. (2008). Should primary care be nurse led? No. BMJ 337: a1169-a1169 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

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Patient satisfaction no indication of quality care.
S W Stuart Menzies
bmj.com, 20 Jul 2002 [Full text]
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