Questionnaire study of the association between patient numbers and regular visiting by general practitioners in care homes

Design and setting: postal questionnaires sent to 73 care homes of European Care Group and separate questionnaires to visiting practices. Methods: information on regularity of visiting was requested from homes and practices. Practices were asked for numbers of doctors and training status. As data were not normally distributed, non-parametric tests were used to compare practices regularly visiting with those visiting only on request in terms of numbers of registered care home patients. Results: forty-seven (64%) of homes responded, with care provided for 1,867 patients by 162 practices. Practices visiting regularly had significantly more patients than practices that did not [median (IQR) 32 (28) versus 3 (5), P < 0.001]. Ninety-five (31%) of practices responded showing a similar association of registrations with regular visiting [median (IQR) 20 (37) versus 4 (4), P < 0.001]. There was no association between numbers of doctors or training status on regular visiting. Conclusion: the number of registered patients is strongly associated with regular care home visiting. Aligning practices with care homes thereby increasing registered patients per practice could encourage proactive care.