Published 18 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1435
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1435

Editorials

Delays in accessing primary care

Need to be understood to prevent adverse health outcomes

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

Many theories exist about the decision to consult a general medical practitioner.1 2 Key influences include the characteristics of the patient, the medical practice itself, the nature of the disease or symptom, and the time of day. These factors are now of particular interest as we ponder the association between access to doctors and the effect on the prognosis of life limiting illness. Changes in policy on the availability of medical practitioners in the United Kingdom have potential clinical consequences; one of these, delay in seeking timely access to appropriate interventions, is explored in the linked study by Lasserson and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.a1569).3 The study found that the opening hours of general practices seem to influence patients’ healthcare seeking behaviour after a transient ischaemic attack and minor stroke and can increase delay in assessment.

It has been shown repeatedly that people have the greatest confidence in their usual doctor and . . . [Full text of this article]

Moyez Jiwa, professor of health innovation1, Andrew Knight, clinical senior lecturer2

1 Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA, Australia 6845, 2 Department of General Practice, the University of Sydney, Katoomba NSW 2780, Australia

m.jiwa@curtin.edu.au


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Relevant Article

Influence of general practice opening hours on delay in seeking medical attention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke: prospective population based study
Daniel S Lasserson, Arvind Chandratheva, Matthew F Giles, David Mant, and Peter M Rothwell
BMJ 2008 337: a1569. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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