General Practitioner Record Research Articles

Measuring Blood Pressure in an Inner City Pharmacy: An Attempt at Coordination with General Practice

Free blood pressure checks, targeted at those aged 30 to 64 years, were offered for a six week period in a small inner city pharmacy. The pharmacist invited 120 clients to take part, of whom 70 (58%) accepted. Thirty of those having the check were interviewed. All had seen their general practitioner within the last five years, and half recalled having had a blood pressure check in the preceding 12 months. The 70 clients were given a copy of the result of the blood pressure check to return to their general practitioner. On checking the general practitioner record of 40 such patients, 25 (63%) had previous blood pressure recordings in the last five years. Only 10 (25%) contained the pharmacy reading, although the records of high readings were more likely to be present. The majority of the 14 general practitioners interviewed were unenthusiastic about the scheme. These results are not favourable to the idea of blood pressure screening by pharmacists, unless it is part of a major coordinated programme.

Acute Otitis Media in Children

A group of 212 children in a partnership practice suffered from acute otitis media in the course of 1 year. These children were subjected to clinical surveillance by their general practitioners and were offered an independent follow-up examination 3 months after the onset of the illness by an otolarygologist. Their mothers were interviewed by a social worker who completed a questionnaire covering 31 items. Selected clinical findings from the general practitioner's record and from the final follow-up examination were compared with selected factors from the social study. It was found that children with less favourable social backgrounds had a poorer experience of medical supervision and poorer end results following treatment.