Minor ailment consultations: a mismatch of perceptions between patients and GPs

Abstract

It is anecdotally reported that general practitioners (GPs) consider much of their time is wasted by patients consulting with minor ailments. The management of minor ailments and the need to reduce pressure on GPs has been a recent focus of government health policy. However, knowledge of the lay and professional interpretations of the term ‘minor ailment’ is sparse. This study determined GPs' and patients' views of consultations perceived by patients to be forminor ailments. A face-to-face, structured interview was conducted with all consenting patients immediately prior to their consultation with two GPs, over a total of 20 surgery sessions, in England. The GP view of consultations perceived by patients to be for minor ailments was obtained. A total of 240 patients (96.4%) participated in the study. Almost 40% of interviewees (93/240) indicated that they were consulting about a minor ailment. In many cases the GPs gave a contrasting view of these consultations, with approximately half judged not to be minor ailments. Whilst there was agreement that the remaining consultations were for minor conditions, sometimes a mismatch existed in the perception of whether the consultation was necessary. In almost 30% of cases (n = 27) the GPs viewed that the patient could have managed their condition alone. Policy-makers and GPsmaintain thatminor ailments account for a substantial proportion of GP workload. However, in this study over 50% of patients had underestimated their ‘minor’ condition. Furthermore, two subgroups of minor ailment consultation were identified; those that could and those that could not be managed by the patient alone. Minor ailment consultations would therefore appear to be far more complex than trivial, inappropriate or unnecessary consultations that waste the time of GPs.