Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12879830›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2003

Is the quality of care in general medical practice improving? Results of a longitudinal observational study.

Stephen Campbell, Andrea Steiner, Judy Robison, Dale Webb, Ann Raven, Martin Roland

Abstract readComment
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Organizational determinants of high-quality routine diabetes care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2014
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. The Quality and Outcomes Framework: what have you done to yourselves?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2007
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Making general practice fit for the 21st century.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2005
    Article
  10. Efforts to ban direct-to-consumer advertising in New Zealand: a call to action.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
    Article
  11. How to change clinical behaviour: no answers yet.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
    Article
  12. Confidentiality: consent is not sufficient.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003
    Article
  13. e-Prescribing, efficiency, quality: lessons from the computerization of UK family practice.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA
    Article
  14. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Stephen CampbellNational Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL. stephen.campbell@man.ac.uk
Andrea Steiner
Judy Robison
Dale Webb
Ann Raven
Martin Roland

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe demand for increased accountability within health care has led to a myriad of government initiatives in the United Kingdom, with the aim of improving care, setting minimum standards, and addressing poor performance.

aimTo assess the quality of care in English general practice in the year 2001 compared with 1998, in terms of access, interpersonal care, and clinical care (chronic disease management, elderly care, and mental health care). DESIGN OF STUDY: Observational study in a purposive sample of general practices in England.

settingTwenty-three general practices in England--eight in North Thames, seven in the North West, and eight in the South West.

resultsOutcome measures were: quality of chronic disease management (angina, adult asthma and type 2 diabetes from practice questionnaires and medical record review), elderly care and mental health care (from practice questionnaires), access to care, continuity of care and interpersonal care (from practice and patient questionnaires) and costs (mean change in practice budget between 1998 and 2001). There were significant improvements in quality of care in terms of organisational access to services (P = 0.016), practice organisation of chronic disease management (P = 0.039), and the quality of angina care (P = 0.003). There were no significant changes in quality scores for mental health care, elderly care, access and interpersonal care. The mean practice budget rose by 3.4% between 1998 and 2001 (adjusted for inflation).

conclusionThese findings provide evidence of improvements in some aspects of the quality of care, achieved at modest cost. This was achieved during a time when the National Health Service was undergoing a series of reforms. However, primary care in England is characterised by variation in care, with significant improvements still possible.

Indexed as

AdultAgedCommunity Mental Health ServicesContinuity of Patient CareEnglandFamily PracticeHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services for the AgedHumansLongitudinal StudiesMiddle AgedQuality of Health Care

Identifiers

PMID12879830
PMCPMC1314572

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.