Fewer hospital visits linked to seeing same GP

A study published by The BMJ has suggested that older patients who see the same general practitioner experience fewer avoidable admissions to hospital.

The analysis, carried out by the Health Foundation, offers data from over 230,000 anonymised patient records for older people aged 62-82 years between April 2011 and March 2013, and finds that there were fewer hospital admissions for certain conditions when patients saw the same GP more consistently.

Despite its apparent decline in England, continuity of care is an aspect of general practice valued by patients and GPs alike. The study improved continuity for patients by encouraging GPs to set prompts on their booking systems and encourage receptionists to book patients to their usual GP.

Reducing hospital admissions by improving continuity of care in general practice found that continuity of care varied considerably across general practices in England, and tended to be lower in larger practices.

However, it did show that patients seeing their usual GP two more times out of every 10 was associated with six per cent fewer avoidable hospital admissions, both elective and emergency. This could be the result of more effective and trusting relationship between patients and doctors being forged due to regular and consistent meetings, as well as the possibility of better understanding of health problems and more appropriate care.

In a linked editorial, researchers at the University of Bristol suggest that seeing the same doctor ‘builds trust and a sense of mutual responsibility between patients and GPs’ while a primary care system that is increasingly fragmented ‘provides the setting for patients to choose to attend an emergency department instead’.