title: Generic outpatient referrals: why don't GPs make them?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Generic general practitioners' (GPs') referrals to secondary care would facilitate equitable distribution of workload and allow planning to meet access time targets. This study assessed GP's referral patterns across a metropolitan health authority, which has actively encouraged generic referrals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A focus group of GPs was used to determine the factors influencing their referral patterns to secondary care for a surgical opinion. A questionnaire was devised based on the factors that emerged from the focus group. All GPs attending continuing-medical-education sessions across Doncaster Health authority were asked to complete this questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 79 GPs surveyed, 78 completed the questionnaire. Of them, 22% stated that they made generic referrals rather than to an individual surgeon. Almost four of five GPs made referrals specifically to a named surgeon. A total of 43% of the GPs who referred to a named surgeon ranked perceived clinical skills/ competence as the most important factor. The other factors that influenced their decision in order of importance were waiting times (19%), personal rapport with consultant (12.6%) and feedback from patients (12.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite encouragement by secondary care and the local health authority, 78% of GPs in the Doncaster area do not make generic referrals. This has to be taken into account in planning service delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Armthorpe Road, Doncaster DN2 5LT, UK. deepatags@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taggarshe
authors.forename: Nandan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haldipur
authors.forename: Sewa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014850:Waiting Lists