Health needs assessment in primary care: the evolution of a practical public health approach

The purpose of the paper is to place health needs assessment in its primary care context. This is a dynamic context where changes in policies, staff roles and patient expectations have all to be considered. Given this complexity and the variations between practices, it is necessary to help primary health care teams (PHCTs) to understand their stage of development and how this will directly affect any health needs assessment. The technical and methodological aspects of health needs assessment have been explored and described by others, and that work will not be duplicated here. This paper reviews the health needs assessment (HNA) work of the Ribblesdale Total Purchasing Project (RTPP) and then sets this review against the political, organisational, professional and practical pressures that currently confront primary care. Out of this analysis emerges a diagnostic and development tool which links together, and emphasises the intimate relationships between, five stages of development needed for effective primary care-oriented health needs assessment work. The emphasis is on understanding the place of health needs assessment within the general processes and systems of the primary health care team. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which public health practitioners and specialists might approach the task of supporting and influencing the evolution of the recently proposed Primary Care Groups and Primary Care Trusts. The overall intention of the article is to stimulate debate and action.