Increasing patient choice in primary care: the management of minor ailments

C Bojke, H Gravelle, K Hassell, Z Whittington

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We examine the effects of an intervention to provide easier access to pharmacists for patients with minor ailments. The intervention allowed pharmacists to prescribe and dispense medicines currently limited to general practitioners (GPs) without patients losing their right to free prescriptions. We show that the total number of GP consultations was unaffected by the intervention but that the proportion which were for minor ailments decreased. We also use estimate multinomial models of patient choices between GP and pharmacies and find that the main determinant is the type of minor ailment. Distance appears to have no effect on patient choice. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-86
Number of pages14
JournalHealth Economics
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2004

Keywords

  • access
  • primary care
  • pharmacy
  • consultations
  • OVER-THE-COUNTER
  • NHS
  • DEMAND
  • DRUGS

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