The Exceptional Potential of General Practice: Making a Difference in Primary Care

This innovative and timely book draws on pioneering precedents, basic principles, current examples and international experience to capture the narratives, examples and ideas that underlie and demonstrate the exceptional potential of general practice:

"If health care is not at is best where it is needed most, health inequalities will widen."

"The unworried unwell are not hard to reach but they are easy to ignore and are often ignored."

"With patient contact, population coverage, continuity, coordination, flexibility, long term relationships and trust, general practices are the natural hubs of local health systems."

"… practitioners … are not only scientists but also responsible citizens and if they did not raise their voice who else should?"

Written for family doctors looking to strengthen local collaboration, it brings together the traditional strengths of consultations, caring, continuity, coordination and coverage with the current and future challenges of building capacity, community, creativity, consistency, collegiality and campaigning. It highlights the critical importance of working with patients, maximising the use of serial encounters, integrating care, joint working between practices, social prescribing, community development and advocacy based on patient and practitioner experience.

Drawing on the highly-regarded work of Deep End GPs serving the poorest communities in Scotland ̶ www.gla.ac.uk/deepend ̶ the book is an invaluable handbook for all primary care doctors, irrespective of health care system or country, seeking to provide unconditional continuity of personalised care for all patients, whatever problem or combination of problems a patient may have.

Professor Watt is Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Glasgow, where he served as Head of Department of General Practice from 1994-2009.After hospital posts in Shetland, Leicester, Aberdeen and Nottingham, Professor Watt sought to combine training in epidemiology and general practice, moving to work with Dr Julian Tudor Hart at Glyncorrwg in South Wales, where they carried out a challenging series of community studies on the effect of dietary salt intake on blood pressure.Moving to the community paediatrics scheme in Edinburgh, Professor Watt completed vocational training at Townhead Health Centre in Glasgow. During the next decade, he established the Glasgow WHO MONICA Project Centre, gained accreditation in public health medicine and worked first as a research manager for health services research in the Scottish Chief Scientist Office and then as a senior lecturer in public health at Glasgow University.Since 1994, he has been Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at University of Glasgow – combining and requiring experience in medical education, clinical medicine, epidemiology, research management and public health advocacy.Professor Watt is Lead Coordinator of the Deep End Project, involving the 100 most deprived general practices in Scotland. He also served as Elected Chair, Heads of Departments Group, UK University Departments of General Practice and Primary Care (2001-2004), and has been the Fellowship Panel for Public Health, Primary Care, Epidemiology, Statistics and Psychiatry, UK Academy of Medical Sciences (2004-2006).