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The Primary Care Workload and Prescribing Costs Associated with Patients with Learning Disability Discharged from Long‐stay Care to the Community
Author(s) -
Chambers Ruth,
Milsom Gina,
Evans Neal,
Lucking Ann,
Campbell Ian
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1998.tb00039.x
Subject(s) - workload , medicine , learning disability , primary care , general practice , medical prescription , health care , family medicine , nursing , psychiatry , computer science , economics , economic growth , operating system
One‐hundred‐and‐thirty‐six patients with learning disability were discharged from a long‐stay hospital to the community, and were registered with a total of 21 practices. This study estimated the additional general practice workload and prescribing costs incurred by the transferred patients, compared with age/sex matched controls from the same practices. The workload was recorded prospectively. General practitioners agreed that six‐monthly health checks and medication reviews should be standard good practice primary healthcare for those with learning disability. Only three practices undertook proactive six‐monthly health and medication reviews of all study patients.