Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Analysis

What mechanisms could link GP relational continuity to patient outcomes?

Kate Sidaway-Lee, Denis Pereira Gray OBE, Alexander Harding and Philip Evans
British Journal of General Practice 2021; 71 (707): 278-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp21X716093
Kate Sidaway-Lee
St Leonard’s Research Practice, Exeter.
Roles: Research Fellow
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Denis Pereira Gray OBE
St Leonard’s Research Practice, Exeter.
Roles: Consultant
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alexander Harding
St Leonard’s Practice; Associate Professor, University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health, Exeter.
Roles: GP Partner
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Philip Evans
St Leonard’s Research Practice; Associate Professor, University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health, Exeter.
Roles: Consultant
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

BACKGROUND

Relational continuity of GP care, defined as a patient seeing the same doctor repeatedly, is a means towards the end of better reciprocal doctor–patient relationships. It has been linked to various outcomes for patients, doctors, and health systems, including patient satisfaction, reduced accident and emergency use, better concordance with medical advice, and reduced hospital admissions.1 Two systematic reviews2,3 have found that continuity is associated with reduced mortality; one in primary care.3 Another aggregate outcome of continuity is reduced costs in the health system, important when countries face cost pressures in health care. In antenatal care, there is evidence from 15 randomised trials that continuity improves outcomes,4 but in general practice trials have not yet been completed.

Hundreds of studies from various countries and health systems have linked increased continuity to positive outcomes; some show no link and only a few an association with adverse effects.1 To the best of our current knowledge, and on the balance of probabilities, continuity is likely to be beneficial. On this basis it is now important to consider what possible mechanisms can explain the continuity effects.

Outcome-specific mechanisms for continuity of care have been proposed separately and several were brought together in our previous reviews.1,5 The concept of accumulated knowledge was first proposed by Hjortdahl in 1992.6 Parchman and Burge wrote: ‘length of relationship and communication predicted accumulated knowledge of the patient by the physician, accumulated knowledge predicted trust, and trust predicted delivery of preventive services’.7 The GP taking greater responsibility has been suggested as a potential mechanism for a mortality reduction. The reports from recent studies into outcomes linked to continuity of care commonly suggest knowledge, trust, and adherence to treatments as likely mechanisms. Other mechanisms include saving time, improved communication, …

View Full Text

  RCGP login

Members, please Login at RCGP to access the journal online.

  Subscriber login

Enter your BJGP login information below.

Log in using your username and password

Enter your British Journal of General Practice username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgot your user name or password?

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 1 day for US$35.00

Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.

  Subscribe

Subscribe to the Journal - Subscribe to the print and/or online journal.

Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 71 (707)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 71, Issue 707
June 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Download PowerPoint
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
What mechanisms could link GP relational continuity to patient outcomes?
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
What mechanisms could link GP relational continuity to patient outcomes?
Kate Sidaway-Lee, Denis Pereira Gray OBE, Alexander Harding, Philip Evans
British Journal of General Practice 2021; 71 (707): 278-281. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp21X716093

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
What mechanisms could link GP relational continuity to patient outcomes?
Kate Sidaway-Lee, Denis Pereira Gray OBE, Alexander Harding, Philip Evans
British Journal of General Practice 2021; 71 (707): 278-281. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp21X716093
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • BACKGROUND
    • REPEATED CONTACT
    • ACCUMULATED KNOWLEDGE
    • GP’s SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY
    • GP–PATIENT RELATIONSHIPS
    • QUALITY OF GP CARE
    • NEGATIVES
    • DISCUSSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • Notes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • Prevention in practice: why is it neglected and what can we do?
  • How to improve practice by means of the Audit Project Odense method
  • Iron supplementation in women: impact of frequency on efficacy and tolerability
Show more Analysis

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2022 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242