Role of general practitioners in NHS must not be undervalued

doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7195.1420b

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Author underestimated figures

Tom Hennell (thennell@doh.gov.uk), Strategic analyst

NHS Executive North West, Warrington WA3 7QN
School of Public Policy, University College London, London WC1H 9EZ

EDITOR—We should be grateful to Majeed for his re-estimation of the proportion of medical care that takes place in general practice.1 His calculation that the proportion is about 70% is, however, too low, as he has extracted the wrong figure from the fourth national survey of morbidity statistics from general practice. The stated figure of 2.9 consultations per person year is the doctor contact rate. The calculated consultation rate, which allows for the fact that there may be consultations for a range of separate conditions during the same visit, was 3.5 per person year, or …