An evaluation of personal medical services: the times they are a changin'

The Personal Medical Services (PMS) pilot sites, launched in England in 1997 by the Secretary of State for the then Conservative government, introduced a local contract for primary care, aimed at promoting flexibility, innovation and policy participation. As part of the National Evaluation of PMS, this paper considers the professional and organisational relationships established between service providers working in those PMS sites which specifically set out to address inequalities in access to primary care for vulnerable populations. The introduction of PMS enabled a change of cultural values in primary care, particularly regarding GPs' relationships with nurses and practice staff. However, PMS has not necessarily led to equal partnerships within primary care teams. Rather,in the selected sites evaluated new interprofessional relationships emerged. There was evidence of intra and interprofessional partnerships being forged, providing the basis for further improved intersectoral collaboration. There was also evidence that the GP based medical model made way for a community oriented/public health model with emphasis on health maintenance for the vulnerable.