IN MY VIEW... SEEING THE SAME GP SAVES LIVES

RESEARCH has now shown what most us have known all along — that continuity of care, or seeing the same GP over time, doesn’t only make the doctor/patient encounter easier, it can potentially save lives.

Proof of this now comes from researchers at the University of Exeter, who analysed 22 studies from nine countries and found that continuity of care meant patients were more likely to follow medical advice, used hospital services less — and were significantly less likely to die prematurely.

Personally, I have always thought continuity of care is one of the most important services a GP can provide — up there with clinical expertise and training.

Having a relationship with your patient means you can spot any subtle deterioration, you know how stoic or otherwise the patient is likely to be and you can make judgments about care with some knowledge of the level of help available at home.

If a patient sees a conveyor belt of different GPs in meetings lasting less than ten minutes, those kinds of crucial details are lost.

All skilled and experienced GPs hope to see an appreciation of this new research by the politicians in charge of our health service. The great difficulty is the shortage of GPs, a problem that cannot be solved overnight.

The solution will come not only from creating more medical school places, but from making the experience of general practice — as distinct from hospital-based medicine — more attractive to graduates.

And, not surprisingly, what would make general practice a more rewarding and enticing specialty would be allowing doctors more time to spend with patients, with guaranteed continuity of care.

This would be a win-win prospect for doctors and patients alike.