Uniform Guidance for Medical Care

. Advice by telephone is an important part of primary health care service. Telephone advice is given at different levels of care. In order to give people confidence in the health care system it is important that personnel at different levels give similar advice for the same symptom or complaint. In order to establish generally accepted guidelines, discussions were held between personnel at different levels of care. This procedure was laborious but successful. Generally accepted guidelines could be agreed upon for all the symptoms and complaints discussed, altogether more than 60. This paper describes the procedure used during the collaborative work to provide these guidelines. It must be emphasised, though, that the guidelines should be adapted to local circumstances before being used as a practical aid in the health care service at health centres and at other outpatient units.