LEADING ARTICLE
Continuity of care
How important is continuity of care?
1 Paediatric Department, St George’s Centre, St George’s Road, Middleton, Leeds, UK
2 Belmont House, 3–5 Belmont Grove, Leeds, UK
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Vidya Sudhakar-Krishnan
Paediatric Department, St George’s Centre, St George’s Road, Middleton, Leeds LS10 4UZ, Yorkshire, UK; vidyakrishnan@mjw.eclipse.co.uk
Accepted 30 November 2006
Continuity of care would result in a better standard of care
Abbreviations: COCI, Continuity of Care Index; SECON, Sequential Continuity Index; UPC, Usual Provider Continuity Index
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
As doctors working in a busy clinic alongside colleagues, we often encounter a number of patients whom we have never met before. Within the allocated time, we have to become rapidly acquainted with the patient’s previous history, develop a rapport and move on to address the patient’s present problems. The patient also has to quickly come to trust an unfamiliar face on the basis of their professional standing. One cannot but feel that if patients saw the same doctor at each clinic appointment, a better standard of care would result, along with a more satisfactory and effective consultation for both patient and doctor.
This sounds like common sense, and in these circumstances it is always interesting to know if there is an evidence base for the self evident. Is continuity of care important to professionals and to patients and, most important, is it clinically important? If it
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