BACKGROUND Existing rural prehospital models have been criticised for being isolated from the healthcare system, and for following inflexible clinical protocols. Greater reliance on clinical judgement and informed decision making in the prehospital setting offer the potential to improve patient care. METHODS Soft systems methodology was used to develop and critically appraise the prehospital ...

BACKGROUND Scientific and public interest in the use of the Internet for health-related purposes has grown considerably. Concerns regarding its impact on patient-doctor relationship and risks for patients have inflamed the debate. Literature provides scarce evidence in this field. This paper investigates whether a patient's decision to use the web also depends on previous experience and satisfa...

background and aims: quality of visit services is a decisive aspect of patient-physician communication that its inadequacy can negatively influence the diagnosis efficiency. the aim of this study was to survey visit quality at provincial level during plan of health sector evolution in tabriz. methods: a sample of 540 patients who referred to the outpatient clinics (sheikh al raeis of tabriz pro...

OBJECTIVE To study interpreters' experiences of problems in cross-cultural communication with special regard to the general practitioner (GP)-patient encounter. DESIGN A focus-group interview with authorized interpreters was carried out. A phenomenographic method was used in the analysis. SETTING Primary health care. RESULTS The interpreters displayed a number of problems mainly related t...

Proposed increases in the average hours of surgery sessions of general practitioners as part of the government programme for improving primary health care may result in more use of deputising services to provide off duty cover. The satisfaction of patients with such a service was studied during one week of October 1987 at nine of the 29 branches of Air Call Medical Services in urban areas in Br...

Introduction: Although fasting has many benefits for health, it can be dangerous for patients. So it is necessary that physicians have adequate information about clinical aspects of fasting and they should advice patients. Therefore in this study we analyses the condition of physicians counseling about fasting from the perspective of patients. Methods:In this descriptive analytical cross-sectio...

OBJECTIVE To identify general practitioner (GP) views and understanding on the use of delayed prescribing in primary care. DESIGN Qualitative semistructured telephone interview study. SETTING Primary care general practices in England. PARTICIPANTS 32 GPs from identified high-prescribing and low-prescribing general practices in England. METHOD Semistructured telephone interviews were con...