Background: Levels of measles in England and Wales are at their highest for 18 years and strategies targeting the different groups of parents who don’t vaccinate their children continue to be needed. Decision aids for childhood immunisation decisions appear to be effective in achieving vaccine...

There is concern that the UK general practitioner (GP) workforce has declined relative to the expanding needs of a primary care-led NHS. Much of the debate about possible solutions within the profession and amongst medical workforce planners has focused on the need to raise medical school...

Personal medical services pilots were introduced in England in 1998 to provide increased flexibility to general practitioners practising in deprived areas, to improve service provision and reduce inequalities. The aim of this study was to identify health authority perspectives of the...

Purpose – Primary care cancer lead clinicians (PCCLs) act strategically in primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to improve communication and understanding of cancer across primary and secondary care and provide a link between Cancer Networks and primary care. The aim is to evaluate the first...

Purpose – The paper seeks to show that the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract will provide opportunities for NHS staff to enhance their roles, so it is important that adequate training assessment and quality control systems are set in place. This paper assesses the implications for...

Diabetes mellitus is a disease with major long-term implications, not only for the health and well-being of affected individuals, but also for costs to the National Health Service. Treatment of the disease and its complications takes up 4-5% of total health care expenditure in the U.K. These...