IMPACT ON PATIENT-CARE, SATISFACTION AND CLINICAL OUTCOME OF IMPROVING THE PSYCHIATRIC SKILLS OF GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

The impact of group training in Problem-Based Interviewing (PBI) on patient care, clinical outcome and patient satisfaction was evaluated by comparing patients with new episodes of minor affective disorder who were treated by PBI trained General Practitioners with those treated by a matched control group of General Practitioners who had not received such training. Trained GPs were found to be significantly better at detecting patients' problems, gave more advice, gave more information about the side effects of drugs and recorded more information in the case notes. The patients of trained doctors were significantly more likely to feel that their problems had been understood by their GP. The significantly better outcome of the patients' illnesses was accounted for by a group of patients who were both anxious and depressed, and this effect seemed likely to be due to the ability of trained doctors to reduce the anxiety of their patients.