The role of community pharmacists in prescribing medication for the treatment of head lice.

Background: The aim of the study was to discover whether the use of community pharmacy, rather than general practice, as the first port of call for suspected head lice infestation would represent an acceptable, effective and cost-reducing means of management in the community.

Methods: A before-and-after study was carried out of a new system of care delivery. Between September and November 1997, pharmacists in Nottingham City West recorded details of all patients attending with prescriptions for head lice treatment or those purchasing over-the-counter medication.

What problems do patients present with outside normal general practice surgery hours? A prospective study of the use of general practice and accident and emergency services.

Background: This study was designed to address some current issues concerning the use of general practice and accident and emergency (A & E) services outside normal surgery hours.

Method: Six general practices in Nottingham (with a combined population of 46,698 patients) were recruited to take part in the study. Over a six month period, data were collected on patient contacts with general practice services and the local A & E department outside normal surgery hours.

General practitioners' referral thresholds and choices of referral destination: an experimental study.

General practitioners (GPs) exert a major impact on NHS resource use, both as providers of primary care and as referrers to secondary care. Referral rates are subject to wide variations, leading to the conjecture that certain GPs may have different 'referral thresholds' from those of others. In this paper, the authors describe an experiment designed both to test the referral threshold hypothesis and to illuminate the GP's decision process with respect to choice over referral destination.

Relation of out of hours activity by general practice and accident and emergency services with deprivation in Nottingham: longitudinal survey.

Objectives: To investigate the relation between out of hours activity of general practice and accident and emergency services with deprivation and distance from accident and emergency department.

Design: Six month longitudinal study.

Setting: Six general practices and the sole accident and emergency department in Nottingham.