Are there enough GPs in England to detect hypertension and maintain access?

A'Court, Christine, Atherton, Helen, Dalton, Andrew, Fleming, Susannah, Hirst, Jennifer, Nunan, David, Selwood, Mary and McManus, Richard J. (2013) Are there enough GPs in England to detect hypertension and maintain access? British Journal of General Practice, 63 (612), 346-347. (doi:10.3399/bjgp13X669103).

Abstract

We read with interest the paper by Baker et al exploring the interrelationship between size of hypertension register, GP provision, and access (defined as the ability to get an appointment within 48 hours), assessed in 8052 practices. It suggests a conundrum in primary care: the ?better? a practice?s recognition and presumably management of hypertension, the worse the access, given finite staffing resources. The same inverse relationship may apply in other chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, where the recognition of risk factors or disease in often asymptomatic individuals also leads to additional workload. As acknowledged by the authors, no information was available on how different members of the primary healthcare team are used, but it appears that, ?an extra GP per 1000 patients would be associated with a 6% increase in detected hypertension?.

This record has no associated files available for download.

Contributors

Author: Helen Atherton

Download statistics