ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2019
General practice in UK newspapers: an empirical analysis of over 400 articles.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- What patients want from access to UK general practice: systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Physician respondents in sexual misconduct concerns in Canada: a comparative case analysis using publicly available information.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2026Article
- Access to general practice appointments and sustainable change: a focused ethnographic case study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Article
- Understanding access to general practice through the lens of candidacy: a critical review of the literature.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Review
- Media depictions of primary care teleconsultation safety: a thematic analysis of UK newspapers.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- UK national newspapers' representation of cancer patients and their care during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic: Invoking and undermining solidarity?Sociology of health & illness · 2024Article
- Patients' experience of accessing support for tics from primary care in the UK: an online mixed-methods survey.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- UK newspapers 'on the warpath': media analysis of general practice remote consulting in 2021.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Recruitment of general practitioners in China: a scoping review of strategies and challenges.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England: longitudinal trends study 2015-2020.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Impact of changes to national guidelines on hypertension-related workload: an interrupted time series analysis in English primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Changing media depictions of remote consulting in COVID-19: analysis of UK newspapers.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Article
- Patient experiences of the urgent cancer referral pathway-Can the NHS do better? Semi-structured interviews with patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Article
- The not so fortunate man: the changing face of general practice and public opinion.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- [Primary care: Change needed to maintain quality].Atencion primaria · 2019Article
- General practice in UK newspapers: the influence of major policy changes.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn the context of the biggest GP workforce crisis since the NHS began, the alleged negative portrayal of UK general practice in the media is often cited as a reason for falling recruitment.
aimTo explore how general practice and GPs are depicted in UK national newspapers. DESIGN AND
settingA thematic analysis of all newspaper articles mentioning GPs or general practice published in the UK from late October 2016 to early October 2017 was undertaken, along with a sample of articles on hospital medicine.
methodArticles were identified through the Lexin UK search engine; relevant titles were tabulated and data extracted. A preliminary coding scheme was developed through discussion and used to categorise data; additional codes and categories were added iteratively as the analysis progressed.
resultsIn total, 403 articles on general practice or GPs were identified, and 100 on hospital specialists or specialties were sampled. Articles depicted UK general practice as a service in crisis, with low morale and high burnout, and leaving gaps in patient care. The traditional family doctor service was depicted as rapidly eroding through privatisation and fragmentation, with GPs portrayed as responsible for the crisis and the resulting negative impact on quality of care. Hospital specialties were also illustrated as under pressure, but this crisis was depicted as being the fault of the government. GP leaders interviewed in the press were usually defending their specialty; hospital doctors were usually sharing their expertise.
conclusionNewspaper portrayals of general practice are currently very negative. Efforts to influence the media to provide a more balanced perspective of general practice should continue.
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What 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.