Why general practitioners do not implement evidence: qualitative study

Congratulations to Freeman and Sweeney on their paper, from a
hospital doctors perspective they provide a fascinating insight into GP's
attitudes.

One way of rectifying the perceived gap between the "evidence-based
mafia" in secondary care and GP's at the coal face is better
communication. I find that a quick phone call can make all the difference
when encouraging GP's to institue new drugs or change existing therapy.
The opportunity to discuss a patient and their particular idiosyncrasies
over the phone can be invaluable. We dont communicate by letter alone
within the hospital environment, so why do it between primary and
secondary care?

Another comment: I think all doctors must strive to consciously avoid
tainting their clinical practice with "anecdotal evidence". We all have
personal experience of patients whose outcomes linger in the memory and
loom larger than they should over our clinical decision making, but of all
the reasons to bend evidence based medicine it is the most illogical.