BMJ  2007;334:8 (6 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39070.553924.3A

Letters

Practice nurses

New contract reduces quality of patient-nurse relationship

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

Derret and Burke raise important questions about the future for primary care nurses and health visitors and the potential for negative effects on patient care.1 We recently carried out a small study on how practice nurses perceive the changes in their role since the introduction of the new General Medical Services contract. Nine practice nurses were interviewed individually, from practices in areas of high or low deprivation in Glasgow (upper and lower fourths of practices in greater Glasgow, based on Scottish index of multiple deprivation) achieving high or low points on the quality outcomes framework (upper and lower fourths of total points on the quality outcomes framework per practice in greater Glasgow) in 2004-5. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim and analysed by using a thematic approach.

The results indicate that practice nurses generally feel that their professional roles and status are developing under the new contract. However, views on incentives (financial . . . [Full text of this article]

Stewart W Mercer, senior clinical research fellow stewmercer@blueyonder.co.uk1, Wendy McGregor, nurse partner2

1 University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 2 Calderwood Practice, Alison Lea Medical Centre, East Kilbride G74 3HW


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Relevant Article

The future of primary care nurses and health visitors
Christopher Derrett and Lydia Burke
BMJ 2006 333: 1185-1186. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Campbell, S. M., McDonald, R., Lester, H. (2008). The Experience of Pay for Performance in English Family Practice: A Qualitative Study. Ann Fam Med 6: 228-234 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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