ABSTRACT
In the British Isles, the GP is often identified as the doctor who comes to the house when a member of the family is ill. This view is surprisingly common, even though home visits make up only a small fraction of the work of the GP. It is confirmed in popular television and stage drama and in literature, where many of the emotionladen encounters between GPs and their patients occur in the setting of the patients’ homes. In most other parts of the world, home visiting by
doctors is even less common, although whichever the country, consulting with a patient in his or her own home is a highly significant event for both the patient and the doctor, and is likely to be remembered by both. Home visits afford the GP a privileged insight
into the personal life of the patient, and they give the patient exceptional access to the GP. Moreover, information obtained at home may be crucial to the management of the illness. Consider the case of Mr F.
