'Personal Care' and General Practice Medicine in the UK: A qualitative interview study with patients and General Practitioners

BACKGROUND: Recent policy and organisational changes within UK primary care have emphasised graduated access to care, speed of access to the first available general practitioner (GP) and care being provided by a range of healthcare professionals. These trends have been strengthened by the current GP contract and Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Concern has been expressed that the potential for personal care is being diminished as a result and that this will reduce quality standards. This paper presents data from a study that explored with patients and GPs what personal care means and whether it has continuing importance to them. METHODS: A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview participants and Framework Analysis supported analysis of emerging themes. Twenty-nine patients, mainly women with young children, and twenty-three GPs were interviewed from seven practices in Lothian, Scotland, ranged by practice size and relative deprivation score. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Personal care was defined mainly, though not exclusively, as care given within the context of a continuing relationship in which there is an interpersonal connection and the doctor adopts a particular consultation style. Defined in this way, it was reported to have benefits for both health outcomes and patients' experience of care. In particular, such care was thought to be beneficial in attending to the emotions that can be elicited when seeking and receiving health care and in enabling patients to be known by doctors as legitimate seekers of care from the health service. Its importance was described as being dependent upon the nature of the health problem and patients' wider familial and social circumstances. In particular, it was found to provide support to patients in their parenting and other familial caring roles. CONCLUSION: Personal care has continuing salience to patients and GPs in modern primary care in the UK. Patients equate the experience of care, not just outcomes, with high quality care. As it is mainly conceptualised and experienced as care within the context of a continuing relationship, policies and organisational arrangements that support and give incentives to this must be in place. These preferences are not strongly reflected in the QOF. Specific questions need to be addressed by future audit and research on the impact of the contract on these aspects of service.