Reorganisation of general practice: Be careful what you wish for

© 2019 Royal College of General Practitioners. All rights reserved. So how might we consider the future organisation of primary care differently? First, as healthcare professionals alongside policymakers, we should reconsider how and why certain issues have been named as 'problems'. For example, has the normalisation of austerity measures minimised debate about adequate funding of primary health care (rather than reorganisation of care within existing funds)? Could increased visibility of the scholarship and intellectual challenge of general practice enhance the attractiveness of GP posts?10 Might greater support for models of care that promote high-quality comprehensive care within a continuous relationship (rather than short-term transactional consultations) increase GPs' job satisfaction and reverse the problems with recruitment and retention? And might an emphasis on the definition of 'good- quality care' be shifted from consumertype priorities such as speed of access, to a fresh and critical curiosity with patients about what they most value and need from primary health care and general practice services? Important questions remain about the position and nature of multidisciplinary support (for example, before or after GP-patient consultations); whether the additional services are provided within or outside existing healthcare structures; and the amount of responsibility disseminated to patients in order to access suitable healthcare services.