Rethinking general practice for the 21st century. The patient counts!

Author: Joachim P Sturmberg1, Carmel Martin, Leon Piterman
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of General Practice, Monash University, Victoria. achim.sturmberg@iname.com
Conference/Journal: Aust Fam Physician
Date published: 2003 Dec 1
Other: Volume ID: 32 , Issue ID: 12 , Pages: 1028-31 , Word Count: 96


Background:
Increasingly, reforms to health care systems appear to interfere with the traditional (healer) role of the general practitioner, and are perceived to disrupt patient care and the therapeutic relationship.

Objective:
To outline measures for the survival and future development of the discipline of general practice in Australia.

Discussion:
In order to preserve longitudinal relationship centred care and high level primary care clinical expertise, health bureaucracies and general practice itself, must re-focus care on the individual and community, integrating new developments rather than allowing 'new ideas and system pressures' to continually distort functional general practice.


PMID: 14708156