The need for new GP consultation models

Abstract

In the 20th century, the discipline of general practice developed models of the consultation process. Thanks in part to this body of literature, general practice has emerged as arguably the most important medical speciality in the world. Now a variety of social factors have profoundly changed the nature of the GP consultation. This article questions the adequacy of these traditional GP consultation models in the context of developing constraints, and then describes two new consultation models for the 21st century.