ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2010
Nurse staffing and quality of care in UK general practice: cross-sectional study using routinely collected data.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Role of Physician and Practice Characteristics in the Quality of Diabetes Management in Primary Care: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Building the future of UK primary care: expanding roles of general practice nurses and patient perspectives.BMC primary care · 2026Review
- A Portrait of Registered Nurses in Primary Care in Canada: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Western journal of nursing research · 2026Article
- 'Fend for yourself': Nurses' experiences transitioning to Family Care Team practice settings in Newfoundland and Labrador.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Scope of practice of primary care nurses: a protocol for an umbrella review of international literature.BMJ open · 2025Article
- General practice characteristics associated with pay-for-performance in the UK: a systematic review.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Care needs of chronically ill patients with intellectual disabilities in Dutch general practice: patients' and providers' perspectives.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Nurse staffing and inpatient mortality in the English National Health Service: a retrospective longitudinal study.BMJ quality & safety · 2023Article
- The impact of funding models on the integration of registered nurses in primary health care teams: protocol for a multi-phase mixed-methods study in Canada.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Perspectives of pharmacists in general practice from qualitative focus groups with patients during a pilot study.BJGP open · 2022Article
- Understanding multidisciplinary care for people with rheumatic disease in British Columbia, Canada, through patients, nurses and physicians voices: a qualitative policy evaluation.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Patient consultation rate and clinical and NHS outcomes: a cross-sectional analysis of English primary care data from 2.7 million patients in 238 practices.BMC health services research · 2019Observational
- Team composition and chronic disease management within primary healthcare practices in eastern Ontario: an application of the Measuring Organizational Attributes of Primary Health Care Survey.Primary health care research & development · 2018Article
- Factors influencing variation in participation in the National Diabetes Audit and the impact on the Quality and Outcomes Framework indicators of diabetes care management.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2018Article
- [Nursing Workforce Characteristics and Control of Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care: a Multilevel Analysis].Revista espanola de salud publica · 2016Article
- Impact of primary care nursing workforce characteristics on the control of high-blood pressure: a multilevel analysis.BMJ open · 2015Article
- Nursing consultations and control of diabetes in general practice: a retrospective observational study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015Observational
- Editor's Briefing.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015Article
- Practice nursing: what do we know?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn many UK general practices, nurses have been used to deliver results against the indicators of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), a 'pay for performance' scheme.
aimTo determine the association between the level of nurse staffing in general practice and the quality of clinical care as measured by the QOF. DESIGN OF THE STUDY: Cross-sectional analysis of routine data.
settingEnglish general practice in 2005/2006.
methodQOF data from 7456 general practices were linked with a database of practice characteristics, nurse staffing data, and census-derived data on population characteristics and measures of population density. Multi-level modelling explored the relationship between QOF performance and the number of patients per full-time equivalent nurse. The outcome measures were achievement of quality of care for eight clinical domains as rated by the QOF, and reported achievement of 10 clinical outcome indicators derived from it.
resultsA high level of nurse staffing (fewer patients per full-time equivalent practice-employed nurse) was significantly associated with better performance in 4/8 clinical domains of the QOF (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, P = 0.004 to P<0.001) and in 4/10 clinical outcome indicators (diabetes: glycosylated haemoglobin [HbA(1C)] < or =7.4%, HbA(1C) < or =10% and total cholesterol < or =193 mg/dl; and stroke: total cholesterol < or =5 mmol/L, P = 0.0057 to P<0.001).
conclusionPractices that employ more nurses perform better in a number of clinical domains measured by the QOF. This improved performance includes better intermediate clinical outcomes, suggesting real patient benefit may be associated with using nurses to deliver care to meet QOF targets.
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