ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2019
A method for measuring continuity of care in day-to-day general practice: a quantitative analysis of appointment data.
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 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of international performance indicators and metrics relevant to UK general practice.BMJ open quality · 2025Pooled it
- GP continuity of care can be regained: lessons from Finland.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Development of a novel GP continuity measurement for practices without personal lists: a two-practice pilot of the modified SLICC.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Continuity of care measurement across health systems: UK and US insights for global primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Continuity of care in UK primary care: a scoping review of measures, challenges, and future interventions.Primary health care research & development · 2026Article
- Categorizing continuity of care measures and why you have (probably) been doing it wrong: a methodological discussion and recommendations for researchers.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Continuity of Primary Care in Community Health Centers.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Quantifying, Understanding and Enhancing Relational Continuity of Care (QUERCC): a mixed-methods protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Multimorbidity and person-centred care in a socioeconomically deprived community: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- The need for a broad perspective when assessing value-for-money for out-of-hours primary care.Primary health care research & development · 2024Review
- 'None of Them Know Me': A Qualitative Study of the Implications of Locum Doctor Working for Patient Experience.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- The decline in relationship continuity in England: can a European perspective help?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Continuity and breaches in GP care and their associations with mortality for patients with chronic disease: an observational study using Norwegian registry data.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Observational
- Continuity of care in general practice in Norway.PloS one · 2024Article
- Realistic not romantic - real-world continuity in action.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Which methods are most practicable for measuring continuity within general practices?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Primary care contacts, continuity, identification of palliative care needs, and hospital use: a population-based cohort study in people dying with dementia.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Continuity in general practice as predictor of mortality, acute hospitalisation, and use of out-of-hours care: a registry-based observational study in Norway.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Observational
- Continuity of care, measurement and association with hospital admission and mortality: a registry-based longitudinal cohort study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Beyond relational continuity.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite patient preference and many known benefits, continuity of care is in decline in general practice. The most common method of measuring continuity is the Usual Provider of Care (UPC) index. This requires a number of appointments per patient and a relatively long timeframe for accuracy, reducing its applicability for day-to-day performance management.
aimTo describe the St Leonard's Index of Continuity of Care (SLICC) for measuring GP continuity regularly, and demonstrate how it has been used in service in general practice. DESIGN AND
settingAnalysis of appointment audit data from 2016-2017 in a general practice with 8823-9409 patients and seven part-time partners, in Exeter, UK.
methodThe percentage of face-to-face appointments for patients on each doctor's list, with the patient's personal doctor (the SLICC), was calculated monthly. The SLICC for different demographic groupings of patients (for example, sex and frequency of attendance) was compared. The UPC index over the 2 years was also calculated, allowing comparisons between indices.
resultsIn the 2-year study period, there were 35 622 GP face-to-face appointments; 1.96 per patient per year. Overall, 51.7% (95% confidence interval = 51.2 to 52.2) of GP appointments were with the patients' personal doctor. Patients aged ≥65 years had a higher level of continuity with 64.9% of appointments being with their personal doctor. The mean whole-practice UPC score was 0.61 (standard deviation 0.23), with 'usual provider' being the personal GP for 52.8% and a trainee or locum for 8.1% of patients.
conclusionThis method could provide working GPs with a simple way to track continuity of care and inform practice management and decision making.
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