Choice of GP: Fact or Fiction

The White Paper, Working for Patients, and the 1990 GP Contract are designed to promote competition between general practitioners and to encourage greater choice for consumers of primary care. Considers the reforms in the light of established consumer behaviour literature in other services and suggests that there are likely to be particular problems for patients in making informed choices about GPs. As a result, patients are unlikely to make decisions unless circumstances force them to do so; which has implications for the way in which GPs are remunerated.