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Improving general practitioner involvement in urban hospitals. Departments or divisions of general practice
M F Harris1, R R Fisher, S M Knowlden
1School of Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington.
Objective:
To discover what measures have been taken in urban Australian hospitals to involve general practitioners (GPs) in public hospital services.
Design:
A descriptive study. Data were collected by postal survey.
Setting:
Hospitals in urban areas.
Main Outcome Measures:
Appointment of GP affiliates or associates, existence of departments or divisions of general practice, appointed GP liaison positions and formal arrangements for GP shared care and discharge planning.
Results:
Ninety-five of 102 hospitals (93%) responded to a postal survey. Sixty-five per cent of respondent hospitals had appointed GP affiliates or associates, 32% had a division or department of general practice and 41% had a designated GP liaison position. Forty per cent had formal GP shared care programs and 14% had formal GP involvement in discharge planning.
Conclusion:
There was a high level of adoption of measures to involve GPs in urban hospitals. However, only a minority of hospitals had comprehensive measures in place and sufficient support for this to occur.