ABSTRACT
After years of relative neglect, since the mid-1980s general practice has become a focus for government policy. Following the White Paper, Promoting Better Health (DHSS 1987), a new contract of employment was negotiated in 1989. With the health reforms of 1990 and the introduction of GP fundholding and its planned extension during the 1990s, general practice has become a central rather than a peripheral platform for health care delivery. This chapter aims to examine the factors which have led to this policy shift, its new direction and its consequences. It is argued that more support needs to be provided for general practice for it to fulfil its potential.
