Objective-To determine the patterns of consultations with the general practitioner among different ethnic groups and the outcome of these consultations.Design-Retrospective analysis of data from one urban group general practice collected during 1979-81 as part of a research project in seven practices.
We decided to examine the services provided by doctors in an inner London practice for domiciliary care. It was expected that the study would highlight the most relevant questions and variables related to access and uptake of this service; it would thus contribute to the design of an accurate procedure for auditing the pattern of delivery of home care to be conducted in the practice in the future. During the study period, 1976-81, there were 90 500 doctor-patient contacts. For patients up to the age of 10 years the proportion of home visits was 9.2%, falling to 2.2% in the age group 20 to 29; then there is a quasi plateau till the age of 60. After 60 the proportion of home visits doubles in each of the following 10 year age groups, reaching 54% in the over 80s. The proportion of home visits (standardised by age) rises from social class II (8.0%) to social class V (10.0%), but is higher in social class I (11.7%). The proportion of home visits according to distance from the practice rises from 8.2% near the health centre to 9.6% at a distance of 0.25 to 0.50 mile, and drops to 8.8% beyond 0.75 mile. The distance effect is not consistent when the social class dimension is added: social classes I and II have higher proportions of home visits in certain age and distance groups. Single people have the lowest proportion of home visits (6.8%); there are large differences between men and women among widowed (14.1% and 8.6% respectively) and divorced or separated (7.0% and 10.7% respectively) patients. There are important variations in the proportions of home visits made by the doctors in the practice, the trainees carrying out proportionally many more home visits. Data collected in the practice can be used to define specific issues for future audit exercises. Furthermore, sociodemographic characteristics of patients have been shown to be associated with use and access to medical services.
Introduction There is a lack of data on the sexual behaviour of patients between being tested for chlamydia, receiving the test result, and being treated. This time-period may be important in the transmission of chlamydia, as infection could continue to be spread to sexual partners whilst awaiting the test result and treatment.We aimed to investigate the sexual behaviours of patients in this time-period in order to investigate the benefits a point-ofcare test (POCT) might bring to clinical practice. Methods A cross-sectional clinical audit of Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinic attendees in England. Clinic staff conducted a notes review of patients returning for chlamydia treatment following a positive chlamydia test result, and of age-and sexmatched chlamydia negatives attending for initial consultation. Initial consultation data were available for all patients; data on behaviour between test and treatment were available only for chlamydia-positives. The data also served as a sexual history taking audit for the GUM clinics, following British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) guidelines. Results Five of nine GUM clinics approached participated (JulyDecember 2014). The sexual history BASHH auditable outcomes completion rates varied from 0-100%. 775 patients (442 females, 353 males) were included in analyses. Males with 2-4 partners, and those who reported never using a condom, were more likely to be chlamydia positive. For 21/143 (14.7%) positive patients who provided data, last new sexual contact was in the period between test and treatment. Conclusion The BASHH 97% data recording target was only consistently met for one of six auditable outcomes, indicating required improvements in sexual history recording by GUM clinics.Patients continue to form new sexual partnerships whilst awaiting chlamydia test results, allowing for the possibility of infecting new sexual partners. POCTs which remove the test to treatment delay could prevent this onward transmission. Introduction Point-of-care tests (POCTs) can eliminate the delay between being tested for chlamydia and receiving the result and treatment, potentially reducing loss to follow-up. However, the cost-effectiveness of POCT implementation depends on multiple factors, including cost-per-test, clinic time, sensitivity and specificity, and the epidemiological impact of POC testing on transmission. P08.29 WEB-TOOL TO ASSESS THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF CHLAMYDIA POINT-OF-CARE TESTS AT THE LOCAL LEVELDecision-makers consider a complex range of information when determining potential impact of introducing a POCT. To enable commissioners, providers, POCT manufacturers and others to assess the advantages, disadvantages and uncertainty of POCTs for chlamydia in different local settings, we developed a user-friendly web-based tool (POCTiC): www.poctic.uk.net
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