ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2006
How are different types of continuity achieved? A mixed methods longitudinal study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Access or continuity: a zero sum game? A systematic review of the literature examining the relationship between access and continuity in primary healthcare.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Primary medical care continuity and patient mortality: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Pooled it
- What do patients and clinicians think about continuity in general practice in England? a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Improving continuity of care in Finnish primary health care: Insights from a nationwide qualitative study of primary care physicians.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- Ongoing Decline in Continuity With GPs in English General Practices: A Longitudinal Study Across the COVID-19 Pandemic.Annals of family medicine · 2024Article
- Improved access to and continuity of primary care after attachment to a family physician: longitudinal cohort study on centralized waiting lists for unattached patients in Quebec, Canada.BMC primary care · 2022Observational
- Continuity of care, measurement and association with hospital admission and mortality: a registry-based longitudinal cohort study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- A phenomenological study of new doctors' transition to practice, utilising participant-voiced poetry.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2021Article
- Why does continuity of care with family doctors matter? Review and qualitative synthesis of patient and physician perspectives.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2021Review
- Predicting declines in perceived relationship continuity using practice deprivation scores: a longitudinal study in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Observational
- Continuity of Primary Care and Emergency Hospital Admissions Among Older Patients in England.Annals of family medicine · 2017Article
- Patients' experiences of consultations with physician associates in primary care in England: A qualitative study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2017Article
- Continuity of care after percutaneous coronary intervention: The patient's perspective across secondary and primary care settings.European journal of cardiovascular nursing · 2017Article
- Using a complex adaptive system lens to understand family caregiving experiences navigating the stroke rehabilitation system.BMC health services research · 2016Article
- 'Falling through gaps': primary care patients' accounts of breakdowns in experienced continuity of care.Family practice · 2015Article
- Patients' assessments of the continuity of primary care in Finland: a 15-year follow-up questionnaire survey.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2014Article
- Personal continuity of care in Norwegian general practice: a national cross-sectional study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2012Article
- Do English patients want continuity of care, and do they receive it?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012Article
- It's all about recognition! Qualitative study of the value of interpersonal continuity in general practice.BMC family practice · 2009Article
- The future for personal doctoring.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the context of developments in healthcare services that emphasise swift access to care, concern has been expressed about whether and how continuity of care, particularly interpersonal continuity, will continue to be achieved.
aimTo explore how patients regard and use primary care services in relation to continuity of provider and access to care, to identify factors that promote or hinder their success in achieving their preferences, and to describe what this means for how different types of continuity are achieved. DESIGN OF STUDY: Longitudinal, mixed methods.
settingCommunity in London and Leicester.
methodPurposive sample of 31 patients recruited from general practices, walk-in centres and direct advertising. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, consultation record booklets completed over 6 months and general practice records for the year including the study period. Data were analysed qualitatively.
resultsFour patterns were identified in the way patients used primary care. These were shaped by their own preferences, by the organisation and culture of their primary care practices, and by their own and their provider's efforts to achieve their preferences. Different configurations of these factors gave rise to different types of continuity. Patients were not always able to achieve the type they wanted. Patients with apparently similar consulting patterns could experience them differently.
conclusionWithin a programme of modernisation, policies that promote a commitment to meeting the preferences of different patients with flexibility and understanding are most likely to provide continued support for interpersonal and other types of continuity of care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
17007704PMC1920714What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.