TY - JOUR T1 - When questionnaire response rates do matter: a survey of general practitioners and their views of NHS changes. JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 479 LP - 480 VL - 50 IS - 455 AU - D Armstrong AU - M Ashworth Y1 - 2000/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/50/455/479.abstract N2 - This paper investigates whether general practitioners (GPs) who do not participate in questionnaire surveys (non-responders) hold different views on participation in primary care reorganisation than their more compliant colleagues. A survey of 72 GPs' involvement in a pilot primary care prescribing group elicited an initial response of 74%. Non-responders were then approached personally and persuaded to complete the questionnaire. Comparison of the responders and the non-responders showed that the latter did differ significantly from the responders in many of their views. This difference needs to be considered whenever the results of surveys are used to guide policy-making in the more corporate model of primary care that is now emerging. ER -