General practitioners with special clinical interests

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7413.460

BMJ 2003;327:460-462 (30 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7413.460

Editorial

General practitioners with special clinical interests

A potentially valuable asset, which requires evaluation

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

The NHS Plan called for the introduction of 1000 "specialistgeneral practitioners" to establish clinics in community settingsfor carefully selected patients.¹ A key aim is to improveaccess in specialties that have particularly long waiting times,such as otorhinolaryngology, dermatology, and ophthalmology. Theoretically at least, hospital consultants will then be ableto offer faster access to patients with more complex problemsas more straightforward cases are diverted to clinics run bygeneral practitioners with special clinical interests.

The success of this policy will depend on recruiting and developinga cadre of general practitioners with the necessary knowledgeand skills to provide specialist care. It will also dependon developing and implementing appropriate selection criteriato ensure that patients see a specialist—be it a generalpractitioner or a hospital consultant—who is equippedto deal with their clinical problem. This in turn raises threeimportant questions. How do we ensure the . . . [Full text of this article]

Rebecca Rosen, fellow in health policy

King's Fund, London W1G 0AN

Richard Stevens, chair

Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology, Oxford OX4 1XD

Roger Jones, Wolfson professor of general practice

Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Guy's, King's College, and St Thomas's School of Medicine, London SE11 6SP (roger.jones@kcl.ac.uk)

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