General practitioner attitudes to day surgery.
BACKGROUND
Day surgery is increasing in importance. Unfortunately, its impact upon health professionals in the community is poorly documented. This paper reports the opinions of general practitioners (GPs) in a North Western Health District.


METHODS
A structured attitude questionnaire was sent to all GPs in Trafford Health District. GPs were asked for their opinions of the relative merits of day and in-patient surgery for patients with similar conditions. Replies were received from 71 GPs, giving a response rate of 65 per cent.


RESULTS
GPs gave only a mixed level of support to the idea of further expansion. This related less to considerations of workload in the Primary Care Team than it did to concerns about readmissions and complications.


CONCLUSIONS
The further development of day surgery will require a greater sensitivity to the resource and information needs of professionals in the Primary Care Team.
Barrow
S
S
Research and Surveys Team, North Western Regional Health Authority, Manchester.
Fisher
A D
AD
Seex
D M
DM
Abdul
M S
MS
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control