The primary healthcare/hospital interface.

In this paper, the author attempts to review the changing relationship between primary care and hospital care. In doing so, he draws on recent experience in the UK which has sought to strengthen the role of primary care services. This has centred on a new employment contract for general practitioners (GPs) and the introduction of the GP fundholding scheme. Both reforms represent a radical change from past practice and illustrate both the opportunities and the risks involved in introducing new financial arrangements in the primary care sector. Not only does he comment on UK experience, but he also make brief references to broader trends in health services reform in various other countries, giving the speech a truly international dimension.