Do all patients in primary care who may benefit from eradication of Helicobacter pylori have access to effective care?

The purpose of this study was to identify those patients who would benefit from eradication therapy for Helicobacter pylori and to understand the scale of service changes needed to implement eradication therapy. All general practices in Bradford Health Authority were invited to take part in the study. Patients who had received more than one repeat prescription for proton pump inhibitors or H(2) receptor antagonists in the previous twelve months were identified using the repeat prescription systems in the participating practices. Their case notes were examined and the relevant data items extracted by a trained project worker. Forty-four out of 100 practices agreed to take part and they accounted for a population of 262 647 people. Of that population, 2.3% (6037) of patients were on long-term acid suppressing treatment. Seventy-nine percent (n=4784) of patients on long-term acid suppression had a diagnosis recorded in the records; 17% (n=1028) had duodenal ulcer; 5% (n=278) gastric ulcer and the rest, 58% (n=3478), consisted of patients labelled as dyspepsia, heartburn, gastritis, and non-ulcer dyspepsia. Only 131 (10%) of those patients with peptic ulcer had been prescribed eradication therapy. Endoscopy and barium meal examinations had been used to confirm the diagnosis in 2715 patients. In the remaining patients there was no information in the case notes to suggest whether the diagnosis had been confirmed by investigations.A substantial proportion of patients previously diagnosed as having peptic ulcer have not been offered eradication therapy demonstrating a delay in getting research evidence into practice. To ensure all patients within a health district who may benefit from eradication therapy, do benefit, a systematic approach including access to additional investigative facilities is required.