[Patients' assessment of general practitioners. Association with type of practice]

This study aimed to examine if and how the patients' assessment of their general practitioner (GP) was associated with the organization of the practice, the number of listed patients and the number of staff members.

A survey among patients registered with the participating GPs assessing 23 aspects of the GP-patient relationship, medical care, information and support, organisation of care and accessibility. Analysis of the associations between the assessments and practice characteristics was performed.

A total of 703 GPs partook in the study. Assessments from 56,652 patients were included in the analyses (response rate 67.6%). Solo practicing GPs, GPs with a short list of patients and GPs with a large staff were assessed more positively than their colleagues in other types of practices, GPs with many listed patients and GPs with a small staff.

The study showed a complex association between the patient-experienced accessibility of general practice care and the number of listed patients and practice staff. Patients experienced the best accessibility in practices with few listed patients and in practices with a large staff. GPs in single-handed practices had far more positive assessments of accessibility than did GPs in partnership practices, especially availability by phone and waiting time prior to an appointment. Differences in patient list and staff between practices could not explain this finding.