Interprofessional collaboration in primary health care

A study of interprofessional collaboration involving 148 general practitioner and district nurse pairs and 161 general practitioner and health visitor pairs was undertaken in 20 health districts throughout England in 1982-83. Data were collected using personal interviews and a prospective record of referrals and consultations. The ratings of collaboration recorded showed that only 27% of general practitioner-district nurse pairs and 11% of general practitioner-health visitor pairs were working in partial or full collaboration. Structural arrangements such as attachment, the number of general practitioners that community nurses work with, and working from the same building were found to be strongly associated with collaboration.