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General practitioner involvement in a group home

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Tony Kendrick*
Affiliation:
Health Centre, Stepgates, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8HZ and Division of General Practice and Primary Care, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE
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Abstract

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This paper describes the experience of a general practitioner employed to provide physical care to 12 highly dependent residents of a group home. In the first year after their discharge from hospital the residents required a mean of 15 contacts each, 90% of which occurred during regular twice-weekly visits to the home. Previously unmet needs for physical care were identified on screening, including visual, dental and footcare problems which were usually correctable. Smoking and obesity were common and resistant to intervention. Shared care policies are described which were developed together with the nursing staff and visiting mental health professionals.

Type
Original papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994

References

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Horder, E. (1990) Medical Care in Three Psychiatric Hostels. London: Hampstead and South Barnet GP Forum and the Hampstead Department of Community Medicine.Google Scholar
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