Role of branch surgeries in a rural area

Surveys of general practitioners and rural residents were conducted in Norfolk to establish the characteristics of branch surgeries in the district and the patients who use them. The branch surgeries tend to serve an unrepresentative section of patients, predominantly those disadvantaged both in health and personal mobility-those from manual social classes, the elderly and those without cars. While doctors and patients were agreed that lower standards of care are provided in most branch surgeries compared with main surgeries, the evidence suggests that branch surgeries nevertheless meet a social need.