TY - JOUR T1 - Do English patients want continuity of care, and do they receive it? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - e567 LP - e575 DO - 10.3399/bjgp12X653624 VL - 62 IS - 601 AU - Ahmed Aboulghate AU - Gary Abel AU - Marc N Elliott AU - Richard A Parker AU - John Campbell AU - Georgios Lyratzopoulos AU - Martin Roland Y1 - 2012/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/62/601/e567.abstract N2 - Background Interpersonal continuity of care is valued by patients, but there is concern that it has declined in recent years.Aim To determine how often patients express preference for seeing a particular GP and the extent to which that preference is met.Design of study Analysis of data from the 2009/2010 English GP Patient Survey.Setting A stratified random sample of adult patients registered with 8362 general practices in England (response rate 39%, yielding 2?169?718 responses).Method Weighted estimates were calculated of preference for and success in seeing a particular GP. Multilevel logistic regression was used to identify characteristics associated with these two outcomes.Results Excluding practices with one GP, 62% of patients expressed a preference for seeing a particular GP. Of these patients, 72% were successful in seeing their preferred GP most of the time. Certain patient groups were associated with more preference for and success in seeing a particular GP. These were older patients (preference odds ratio [OR]?=?1.7, success OR?=?1.8), those with chronic medical conditions (preference OR?=?1.9, success OR?=?1.3), those with chronic psychological conditions (preference OR?=?1.6, success OR?=?1.3), and those recently requesting only non-urgent versus urgent appointments (preference OR?=?1.4, success OR?=?1.6). Patient groups that had more frequent preference but less success in seeing a preferred GP were females (preference OR?=?1.5, success OR?=?0.9), patients in larger practices (preference OR?=?1.3, success OR?=?0.5), and those belonging to non-white ethnic groups.Conclusion The majority of patients value interpersonal continuity, yet a large minority of patients and specific patient groups are not regularly able to see the GP they prefer. ER -