General practitioner and specialist

Abstract

A Finnish study published in this edition, shows that in 42% of the 3,000 referrals, the general practitioner did not receive a discharge letter from the specialist. In other European countries the communication from specialists to general practitioners might not be as poor as in Finland, but the results of this study are probably symptomatic of a more universal problem. Eur J Gen Pract 1996; 2: 53–4.