Injuries in rural practice: their incidence and management

Injuries in a rural practice were studied for a five-year period. Nine hundred and sixty-five incidences of injury were recorded in a population averaging 1,308 patients. There were complete records for 894 patients; the remaining 71 had left the practice. Eighty-six per cent of cases were managed entirely in the practice; when radiographic facilities used by the practice were included, this figure rose to 97 per cent.Methods by which this proportion of injuries may be managed in general practice involve political decisions as well as provision of facilities to enable general practitioners to achieve this aim.