General practice in the EU: countries you see, customs you find

Excerpt

General Practice (GP) is acknowledged as a medical specialisation with specific skills and tasks. In parallel, the pivotal role played by General Practitioners (GPs) within primary care has been historically consolidated [1]. However, over the last few years, primary care in Europe has been undergoing continuous changes in response to the increasing multi-morbidity and (both medical and social) complexity of patients, whilst funding constraints have been strengthened following the economic crisis. This has necessarily affected the role of GPs, which now urgently needs a change as radical as it is necessary to be abreast with the times [2]. Therefore, the specialty training programme in GP and the role of GPs in healthcare systems appear to be two crucial issues to deal with in the European health landscape. Despite the growing importance of these topics, the health literature on them in the main European countries is currently scarce [3]. …