Comparison of face-to-face and telephone consultations in primary care: qualitative analysis.

Background: There is evidence that telephone consultations in general practice are typically shorter than face-to-face consultations and that fewer problems are presented in them.

Aim: To compare the communicative practices of doctors and patients in face-to-face and telephone consultations, in order to understand the contrasts between the two consulting modes.

Design Of Study: Conversation analysis.

The expression of aversion to medicines in general practice consultations.

Although the relevance of patients' views about medicines for their medicine taking behaviour is now well established, little is known about the ways in which these views are discussed in primary care consultations. In particular, many studies have demonstrated patients' aversion to medicines. This paper examines the form that aversion talk takes in the consultation and how doctors respond to patients' expression of aversion to medicines.

"Fire away": the opening sequence in general practice consultations.

Background: Proponents of recent models of the doctor-patient relationship, such as concordance and shared decision making, have emphasized mutuality rather than paternalism or consumerism. However, little attention has been paid so far to the ways in which this might actually be achieved.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to establish whether there are any rules governing the opening sequence in general practice consultations, and to analyse the ways in which the observing or breaking of such rules contributes to the development of mutuality between patients and GPs.