JRSM > Volume 96, Number 4 > Pp. 180-184

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The doctor—patient relationship in US primary care

Pam Lings PhD   Philip Evans MPhil MRCGP   David Seamark PhD MRCGP   Clare Seamark MPhil MRCGP   Kieran Sweeney MPhil FRCGP   Michael Dixon OBE FRCGP     Denis Pereira Gray FRCGP FMedSci  

Institute of General Practice (now the Peninsula Medical School), School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Barrack Road, Exeter EX2 5DW, UK

Correspondence to: Dr Pam Lings E-mail: pam.lings{at}pms.ac.uk

Changes in the organization of primary care in the UK are driven by a need to improve access and availability, but doctor—patient relationships may suffer. To investigate the importance of such relationships in a different setting, we analysed focus-group data obtained in a primary care facility in the USA (Rochester, NY). The findings pointed to three key factors in these relationships—namely, an asymmetry of perceptions on the two sides, belying the notion of a meeting of experts; the importance on both sides of ‘liking’; and the value set by both parties on development of trust. The last two of these factors are probably related to continuity of care, now under threat.

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