ABSTRACT
The bane of most practice managers' lives is the inability of their General practitioners (GPs) to take and implement decisions. This inability is widely acknowledged by GPs themselves and is a major source of frustration to them, as well as to their managers. Within the bigger practices, and particularly within fund-holders, partnerships are now becoming happier to experiment with a clear division of managerial function within the partnership. Many practices described in the workshops had been helped by externally facilitated organization or team development, either by a consultant coming into the practice, or key players in the practice attending a residential workshop. The management of chronic disease and of health promotion and disease prevention is a practice or primary care team task that needs to be managed if it is to be done effectively and efficiently. Increasingly, preferences for different organizational models of delivering primary care are being expressed by different groups of GPs and different groups of patients.
