Family practitioner Health Dictionary

The deliberate limitation or spacing of births. Strategies for family planning include the different methods of contraception. (See also birth control.)... family planning

A form of psychotherapy that aims to promote greater harmony and understanding between members of a family, most often between parents and adolescent children.... family therapy

A charity which helps families with disabled children to obtain good-quality information, support and – most of all – contact with other families with children who have the same disorder. This includes children with speci?c and rare conditions and those with special educational needs. The charity has many local parent groups throughout the UK and publishes a comprehensive directory with brief descriptions of each condition followed by contact addresses, phone numbers and web addresses. It also has a central helpline and a team of parent advisers.

See www.cafamily.org.uk... contact a family

A taxonomic group of similar, related, animals. The taxonomic group that is below Order, but above Genus.... family

A form of specialty practice in which medical practitioners provide continuing comprehensive primary care within the context of the family unit.... family practice

WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES. The consulting herbalist is covered by Part III of The Supply of Herbal Remedies Order, 1977, which lists remedies that may be used in his surgery on his patients. He enjoys special exemptions under the Medicines Act (Sections 12 (1) and 56 (2)). Conditions laid down for practitioners include:

(a) The practitioner must supply remedies from premises (apart from a shop) in private practice ‘so as to exclude the public’. He is not permitted to exceed the maximum permitted dose for certain remedies, or to prescribe POM medicines.

(b) The practitioner must exercise his judgement in the presence of the patient, in person, before prescribing treatment for that person alone.

(c) For internal treatment, remedies are subject to a maximum dose restriction. All labels on internal medicines must show clearly the date, correct dosage or daily dosage, and other instructions for use. Medicines should not be within the reach of children.

(d) He may not supply any remedies appearing in Schedule 1. Neither shall he supply any on Schedule 2 (which may not be supplied on demand by retail).

He may supply all remedies included in the General Sales List (Order 2129).

(e) He must observe requirements of Schedule III as regards remedies for internal and external use.

(f) He must notify the Enforcement Authority that he intends to supply from a fixed address (not a shop) remedies listed in Schedule III.

(g) Proper clinical records should be kept, together with records of remedies he uses under Schedule III. The latter shall be available for inspection at any time by the Enforcement Authority.

The practitioner usually makes his own tinctures from ethanol for which registration with the Customs and Excise office is required. Duty is paid, but which may later be reclaimed. Accurate records of its consumption must be kept for official inspection.

Under the Medicines Act 1968 it is unlawful to manufacture or assemble (dispense) medicinal products without an appropriate licence or exemption. The Act provides that any person committing such an offence shall be liable to prosecution.

Herbal treatments differ from person to person. A prescription will be ‘tailored’ according to the clinical needs of the individual, taking into account race as well as age. Physical examination may be necessary to obtain an accurate diagnosis. The herbalist (phytotherapist) will be concerned not only in relieving symptoms but with treating the whole person.

If a person is receiving treatment from a member of the medical profession and who is also taking herbal medicine, he/she should discuss the matter with the doctor, he being responsible for the clinical management of the case.

The practitioner can provide incapacity certificates for illness continuing in excess of four days for those who are employed. It is usual for Form CCAM 1 5/87 to be used as issued on the authority of the Council for Complementary and Alternative medicine.

General practitioners operating under the UK National Health Service may use any alternative or complementary therapy they choose to treat their patients, cost refunded by the NHS. They may either administer herbal or other treatment themselves or, if not trained in medical herbalism can call upon the services of a qualified herbalist. The herbal practitioner must accept that the GP remains in charge of the patient’s clinical management.

See: MEDICINES ACT 1968, LABELLING OF HERBAL PRODUCTS, LICENSING OF HERBAL REMEDIES – EXEMPTIONS FROM. ... herbal practitioner

Labelling regulations require every dispensed product, i.e. a container of medicine, lotion, tablets, ointment, etc, to be labelled with the following particulars:–

1. Name of the patient.

2. Name and address of the herbal practitioner.

3. Directions for use of the remedy.

4. Liquid preparations for local or topical use to be clearly marked: For external use only.

Statutory Instruments: Medicine (Labelling) Regulations 1976 No. 1726. Medicines (Labelling) Regulations 1977 No. 996. ... labelling of herbal products by a practitioner

in the USA, a paraprofessional or subprofessional health-care worker who is allowed to provide a limited amount of treatment to patients, usually under the supervision of a licensed practitioner, such as a physician. Examples include a nurse practitioner or occupational therapist.... dependent practitioner

see general practitioner.... family doctor

(GPwSI, GPSI) see general practitioner.... general practitioner with special interest

a registered nurse with advanced training and experience who assumes some of the duties and responsibilities formerly assumed only by a physician. Such nurses can practise in hospital or community settings within various domains of clinical activity, which may be condition-specific (e.g. diabetes, breast care), client-specific (e.g. children, the elderly, the homeless), or area-specific (e.g. general practice, dermatology).... nurse practitioner

A general practitioner (‘family doctor’; ‘family practitioner’) is a doctor working in primary care, acting as the ?rst port of professional contact for most patients in the NHS. There are approximately 35,000 GPs in the UK and their services are accessed by registering with a GP practice – usually called a surgery or health centre. Patients should be able to see a GP within 48 hours, and practices have systems to try to ensure that urgent problems are dealt with immediately. GPs generally have few diagnostic or treatment facilities themselves, but can use local hospital diagnostic services (X-rays, blood analysis, etc.) and can refer or admit their patients to hospital, where they come under the supervision of a CONSULTANT. GPs can prescribe nearly all available medicines directly to their patients, so that they treat 90 per cent of illnesses without involving specialist or hospital services.

Most GPs work in groups of self-employed individuals, who contract their services to the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) – see below. Those in full partnership are called principals, but an increasing number now work as non-principals – that is, they are employees rather than partners in a practice. Alternatively, they might be salaried employees of a PCT. The average number of patients looked after by a full-time GP is 1,800 and the average duration of consultation about 10 minutes. GPs need to be able to deal with all common medical conditions and be able to recognise conditions that require specialist help, especially those requiring urgent action.

Until the new General Medical Services Contract was introduced in 2004, GPs had to take individual responsibility for providing ‘all necessary medical services’ at all times to their patient list. Now, practices rather than individuals share this responsibility. Moreover, the contract now applies only to the hours between

8.00 a.m. and 6.30 p.m., Mondays to Fridays; out-of-hours primary care has become the responsibility of PCTs. GPs still have an obligation to visit patients at home on weekdays in case of medical need, but home-visiting as a proportion of GP work has declined steadily since the NHS began. By contrast, the amount of time spent attending to preventive care and organisational issues has steadily increased. The 2004 contract for the ?rst time introduced payment for speci?c indicators of good clinical care in a limited range of conditions.

A telephone advice service, NHS Direct, was launched in 2000 to give an opportunity for patients to ‘consult’ a trained nurse who guides the caller on whether the symptoms indicate that self-care, a visit to a GP or a hospital Accident & Emergency department, or an ambulance callout is required. The aim of this service is to give the patient prompt advice and to reduce misuse of the skills of GPs, ambulance sta? and hospital facilities.

Training of GPs Training for NHS general practice after quali?cation and registration as a doctor requires a minimum of two years’ post-registration work in hospital jobs covering a variety of areas, including PAEDIATRICS, OBSTETRICS, care of the elderly and PSYCHIATRY. This is followed by a year or more working as a ‘registrar’ in general practice. This ?nal year exposes registrars to life as a GP, where they start to look after their own patients, while still closely supervised by a GP who has him- or herself been trained in educational techniques. Successful completion of ‘summative assessment’ – regular assessments during training – quali?es registrars to become GPs in their own right, and many newly quali?ed GPs also sit the membership exam set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (see APPENDIX 8: PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS).

A growing number of GP practices o?er educational attachments to medical students. These attachments provide experience of the range of medical and social problems commonly found in the community, while also o?ering them allocated time to learn clinical skills away from the more specialist environment of the hospital.

In addition to teaching commitments, many GPs are also choosing to spend one or two sessions away from their practices each week, doing other kinds of work. Most will work in, for example, at least one of the following: a hospital specialist clinic; a hospice; occupational medicine (see under OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, MEDICINE AND DISEASES); family-planning clinics; the police or prison services. Some also become involved in medical administration, representative medicopolitics or journalism. To help them keep up to date with advances and changes in medicine, GPs are required to produce personal-development plans that outline any educational activities they have completed or intend to pursue during the forthcoming year.

NHS GPs are allowed to see private patients, though this activity is not widespread (see PRIVATE HEALTH CARE).

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) Groups of GPs (whether working alone, or in partnership with others) are now obliged by the NHS to link communally with a number of other GPs in the locality, to form Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Most have a membership of about 30 GPs, working within a de?ned geographical area, in addition to the community nurses and practice counsellors working in the same area; links are also made to local council social services so that health and social needs are addressed together. Some PCTs also run ambulance services.

One of the roles of PCTs is to develop primary-care services that are appropriate to the needs of the local population, while also occupying a powerful position to in?uence the scope and quality of secondary-care services. They are also designed to ensure equity of resources between di?erent GP surgeries, so that all patients living in the locality have access to a high quality and uniform standard of service.

One way in which this is beginning to happen is through the introduction of more overt CLINICAL GOVERNANCE. PCTs devise and help their member practices to conduct CLINICAL AUDIT programmes and also encourage them to participate in prescribing incentive schemes. In return, practices receive payment for this work, and the funds are used to improve the services they o?er their patients.... general practitioner (gp)

part of *NHS Resolution that provides advice and support to NHS trusts and health authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland regarding concerns about the performance of individual doctors, dentists, and pharmacists. The emphasis of the service is on local resolution. It was formerly known as the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS).

Information from the NHS Resolution website... practitioner performance advice

(GP) a doctor working in the community who provides family health services to a local area. General practitioners (also known as family doctors or family practitioners) may work on their own or in a group practice in which they share premises and other resources with one or more other doctors. GPs are usually the first port of call for most patients with concerns about their health. They look after patients with wide-ranging medical conditions and can refer patients with more complex problems to specialists, such as hospital consultants. Some GPs with additional training and experience in a specific clinical area take referrals for assessment and treatment that may otherwise have been referred directly to hospital consultants; these are known as GPs with a special interest (GPwSI or GPSI). Most GPs work solely within the *National Health Service but a few work completely privately. The current model of general practice allows for GPs to provide general medical services (GMS), the terms and conditions of which are governed by a national contract which is usually negotiated on an annual basis, or personal medical services (PMS), the terms and conditions of which are governed by locally negotiated contracts within a broad framework. The new primary care contract (nGMS contract) came into force in April 2004, allowing GPs to opt out of weekend and night (*out-of-hours) service provision for patients registered with their practice. In this period, patient care is usually provided by an out-of-hours cooperative or deputizing service. At the same time the government also introduced the *Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) as a means to improve the quality of care provided. Most GPs are *independent contractors although more recently there has been an increase in the number of salaried GPs. GPs may employ a variety of staff, including *practice nurses, *nurse practitioners, and counsellors.... general practitioner