Medical Centre

Epilepsy is one of the commonest neurological conditions and is associated with major adverse health outcomes and has a significant impact on a person's quality of life. In an article published in the journal Seizure , Michael Soljak and colleagues from Imperial College London examined the association of primary care factors with hospital admissions for epilepsy in England, 2004–2010. Hospital admission rates for epilepsy in England decreased from 2004–2005 to 2009–2010. Patient access to primary care appointments more than two days ahead, a measure of access to preventive care, and percentage of patients age 18 and over on drug treatment for epilepsy who have been seizure free for the last 12 months, were associated with a lower rate of admissions. However, the impact of these variables on admission rates is small compared to that of deprivation. The study provides further evidence that improved access to primary care could help reduce admission rates for long-term conditions...

I attended the National Summit on Quality in General Practice on 31 July 2014, which was held at the RCGP Headquarters in Central London. The event was organised by the RCGP, the Health Foundation, and the BMJ. Among the attendees were Dr Maureen Baker, Chair of the RCGP, Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor of the BMJ, and Dr Richard Vautrey from the BMA's General Practice Committee. The National Summit was facilitated by Judy Oliver. At the meeting, there were presentations and discussion on the current state of general practice in the UK, the challenges we need to overcome to provide high quality primary care services, the importance of adopting a patient-centred approach in the measurement of quality of care, and how we can make change happen in the current political and economic contexts. Delegates worked in groups to address these issues. Amongst my group were Anna Damerell, Richard Vautrey, Bryan Fisher, Nick Steele and Tom Duncan.We had a stimulating debate on the many challenges ...