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Summary
Patients do not act as informed consumers when choosing general practitioners (GPs). Most select the nearest GP, often when ill, without researching services, suggesting competition alone won't improve care quality.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Primary Care Medicine
- Patient Behavior Studies
Background:
- The 'Working for Patients' white paper posits that patient choice and competition enhance general practitioner (GP) services.
- This study examines the validity of these assumptions regarding patient consumerism in primary care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether patients actively choose general practitioners based on service quality.
- To assess the impact of competition on primary care standards from a patient perspective.
Main Methods:
- A postal questionnaire survey was conducted.
- The survey targeted 447 individuals who had recently registered with a new general practitioner.
Main Results:
- A significant lack of consumerist behavior was observed among patients.
- Most participants registered with their geographically nearest GP.
- Many patients registered only when already ill and had minimal knowledge of their new practice.
Conclusions:
- Patient choice and competition are unlikely to independently drive improvements in general practitioner care standards.
- Findings challenge the premise that market-based mechanisms alone will elevate primary care quality.