ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the variables available in primary care indicator packages and the sources of data from which they are derived, and how primary care indicators can be used to investigate differences between practices and their limitations. By collating information on practices in one readily accessible source, primary care indicators for general practices will allow health authorities to monitor more easily the performance of practices, and therefore allocate resources to practices for staff, premises, hospital referrals and prescribing on a rational basis. Primary care indicators will allow health authorities to rank practices and therefore produce league tables of practice performance; a development which many general practitioners will find threatening. Primary care indicators can also help practices to identify areas which are priorities for improvement, and help them to monitor their performance overtime. The indicators therefore have a role in practice-based quality improvement programmes.
