TY - JOUR T1 - August Focus JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 562 LP - 562 VL - 56 IS - 529 AU - David Jewell Y1 - 2006/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/56/529/562.abstract N2 - ‘We'll just organise some tests’ must be one of the frequent clichés of modern medicine. Ordering tests is something we do all the time, one of the three major outputs of primary care that cost money, yet it's an aspect of work that we question little and understand less, and it's good to be able to shed a little light on the subject. Start with the clinical prediction rule on page 606, where the authors have quantified the effect of treating patients with urinary symptoms on the basis of dipstick results. The effect of following the rule could be to reduce some antibiotic use, but this will mean not treating some women with infections. As they say, the aim is not to target antibiotics perfectly, but to do so more appropriately. The paper on page 587 reminds us of another risk of doing tests; here some patients felt stigmatised by finding that they were positive for Chlamydia. Then there are X-rays. In … ER -