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Does clinical assistant experience in ENT influence general practitioner referral rates to hospital?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

R. K. Bhalla
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.
D. Unwin
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Norwood Road Health Centre, Southport, UK.
T. M. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.
T. Lesser
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.

Abstract

Referral rates from individual partners within two demographically matched general practices to the local ENT service were gathered prospectively over a six-year period. The study was designed to determine if extra training in one practice altered these rates. A single partner from one practice attended otolaryngology clinics for regular training over a three-year period. This was funded by the local Family Practitioners’ Committee. The funding enabled a locum to cover this partner’s clinical commitment whilst he attended the specialist clinics for continued ENT training. The aim of this study was to identify whether the provision of continued ENT training and education to general practitioners (GPs) influenced referral patterns to specialist clinics.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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