Single-handed or group practice, quality of care and patient satisfaction

摘要

The Royal College of General Practitioners recently produced a profile of general medical practices in the UK.1 This stated that there are currently about 10 500 practices in the UK with an average list size of 6000 patients. Of all practices in the UK, 22% were single-handed in 2004. The paper also illustrated the accelerating trend towards multi-partner practices in the UK. In 1991, practices with two or more partners comprised 68% of all practices in England and Wales; by 2004, they had increased to 77% of the total.