ABSTRACT
Primary care is that level of a health system that provides entry into the system for all new needs and problems, provides person-focused care over time, and provides care for all but very uncommon or unusual conditions. It coordinates or integrates care provided elsewhere or by others. Political definitions of primary care have been less popular. That primary care has long been a malleable term of political discourse, or what one commentator called 'a linguistic accommodation', there can be little doubt. The political imperative for primary care is to ensure that these needs are met empathically by the modern pattern of relationships in primary care. More haste and less speed is the Scandinavian style where international primary care at the start of the twenty-first century is best. As the next millennium proceeds, perhaps this is a lesson for all of us, wherever we are and regardless of which organisational development in primary care applies to our particular setting.
