Audit in general practice by a receptionist: a feasibility study.

Objective: To examine whether audit can be done cost effectively by a practice's receptionist.

Design: The practice set goals for various aspects of care, and forms were devised for the receptionist to collect, analyse, and present data to assess whether these goals had been achieved in the previous year.

Setting: Six doctor practice in south London looking after 11,500 patients.

Pilot study of records of shared care for people with mental illnesses.

Objective: To develop and evaluate a record of shared care to be held by the patient designed to increase the effectiveness of long term care of patients with severe mental illness.

Design: Questionnaires completed by medical staff, community psychiatric nurse, and patients to evaluate the shared care record.

Setting: General practices, a psychiatric outpatient clinic, and a mental health resource centre in south east London.

Self referral to accident and emergency department: patients' perceptions.

A study was conducted (a) to assess the number of patients registered with a south London general practice who over 11 weeks referred themselves to an accident and emergency department, (b) to identify the characteristics of those patients, and (c) to determine their perceptions of the services and resources available within their general practices and of the role of accident and emergency departments. Two hundred and thirty four patients referred themselves to a casualty department during the study period, of whom 217 (93%) were interviewed by means of a semistructured questionnaire. Of the 217 patients interviewed, only 15 had tried to contact their general practitioner before attending the casualty department.