TY - JOUR T1 - Changing pattern of referral to a diabetes clinic following implementation of the new UK GP contract JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 624 LP - 626 VL - 56 IS - 529 AU - Umasuthan Srirangalingam AU - Senthur K Sahathevan AU - Shawarna S Lasker AU - Tahseen A Chowdhury Y1 - 2006/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/56/529/624.abstract N2 - Background The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the new GMS contract on referral patterns to a secondary care diabetes clinic. All new patient referrals received from primary care to a hospital diabetes service were surveyed. No significant change in referrals was seen 6 months after implementation of the GMS contract. There was, however, an increase in referrals for poor glycaemic control after implementation of the new GMS contract, and the glycaemic threshold for referral with poor glycaemic control has reduced (9.7% versus 10.6%, P = 0.006, mean difference = 0.9% [95% confidence interval = 0.4 to 1.3%]). ER -