ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the possible futures for general practice and the factors that might influence their development. It discusses the possible consequences of the erosion of the practitioner's core values by the values of the practice. Probably the most significant change in the balance of roles within general practice has been the increasingly important part played by non-clinical workers. Practitioners may feel increasingly the need to choose between traditional values of the practitioner and the increasingly dominant values of the practice. The practitioner values, being at times in conflict with practice values, are likely at best to be tolerated rather than supported by the practice. If resource levels in general practice were infinite, or even adequate, it might be possible simultaneously to hold practice and practitioner values without significant conflict. The practice needs values that enable it to manage the contract, ration care and maximize health gain for the whole population within the available resources.
