ABSTRACT
In Appendix 1 we present charts from the 1991/2 National Morbidity Survey which show patient consultation rates by age and sex. Our analysis of detailed computer appointment data for nine Sheffield practices produced rates that were higher (particu larly for practice nurses) but whose aggregate age-sex pattern of consultations was broadly similar. Such consultation rate charts based on age bands show the propensity of individual patients of different ages and gender to consult. Such rates do not take into account that the older age bands have fewer patients in them. The figures that follow take the perspective of the GP or practice nurse in terms of the number of consultations generated by patients of different gender and age groups. They are based on 1998 data, but an analysis for 1997 produced almost identical results.
