Does Advanced Access improve access to primary health care? Questionnaire survey of patients.

Background: General practices in England have been encouraged to introduce Advanced Access, but there is no robust evidence that this is associated with improved access in ways that matter to patients.

Aim: To compare priorities and experiences of patients consulting in practices which do or do not operate Advanced Access.

Design Of Study: Patient questionnaire survey.

Impact of Advanced Access on access, workload, and continuity: controlled before-and-after and simulated-patient study.

Background: Case studies from the US suggest that Advanced Access appointment systems lead to shorter delays for appointments, reduced workload, and increased continuity of care.

Aim: To determine whether implementation of Advanced Access in general practice is associated with the above benefits in the UK.

Design Of Study: Controlled before-and-after and simulated-patient study.

Evaluation of an innovative approach to the Director of Public Health's annual report.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the process of an innovative 'presentation with discussion' approach to the Director of Public Health's (DPH) annual report for North Derbyshire Health Authority.

Study Design: Mixed methods-survey and interviews.

Methods: Survey methods were used to obtain qualitative and quantitative data.

The impact of a general practice co-operative on accident and emergency services, patient satisfaction and GP satisfaction.

Background: The advent of general practice co-operatives represented a fundamental change in the delivery and organization of out-of-hours services. Concerns have been voiced that co-operatives might impact adversely on workload in accident and emergency (A&E) departments.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of establishing a general practice co-operative on use of A&E services, patient satisfaction and GP satisfaction.

Cost effectiveness of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) treatment related to the risk of coronary heart disease and cost of drug treatment.

Objectives: To estimate the cost effectiveness of statin treatment in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD) and to examine the effect of the CHD risk level targeted and the cost of statins on the cost effectiveness of treatment.

Design: Cohort life table method using data from outcome trials.

Main Outcome Measures: The cost per life year gained for lifelong statin treatment at annual CHD event risks of 4.

Lipid-lowering for prevention of coronary heart disease: what policy now?

1. Recent outcome trials suggest that lipid-lowering with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors is justifiable on risk-benefit grounds in subjects with serum cholesterol > 5.5 mmol/l who have coronary heart disease, other forms of atherosclerotic vascular disease, or who are free of vascular disease but have a risk of major coronary events > or = 1.

Pharmacokinetics of FCE 22101 in man following different modes of administration.

Twelve healthy volunteers received single iv doses of either 500 and 1000 mg or 750 and 1500 mg of the sodium salt of FCE 22101; in addition, five of the volunteers received a further dose of 2000 mg. In the second part of the study, 11 of the volunteers received 1000 mg doses of FCE 22101 in a four-way randomized fashion by iv bolus (1000 mg, with and without probenecid), im injection (1000 mg plus lignocaine) and a continuous infusion (280 mg/h) to steady state. All doses were well tolerated by the volunteers with no serious side effects and no significant haematological or biochemical changes following drug administration.