ABSTRACT
Health planning can be considered to be any decision-making process concerned with managing change to ensure the better provision of future services. Fundholding seems to have initiated a gradual change in the general view of General Practices (GPs) with regard to planning, clinical care and resource availability. Medical audit seems to be an assessment mechanism acceptable to most GPs, as it can be seen to directly improve the quality of patient care and individual outcomes. Planning can be considered in three basic ways: top down planning, bottom up planning and goals down/plans up. Planning offers the opportunity for recording actions in advance of their being performed, and for organizing all the actions planned for a patient, including those proposed by different parties. Accountabilities are already in existence before a patient registers with a GP. Health planning for general practice is in its infancy and will undoubtedly develop as experience is gained in both the preparation and the implementation of plans.
