GP’s Relationships & Referrals to Osteopathy.
Item
- Title
- GP’s Relationships & Referrals to Osteopathy.
- Title
- GP’s Relationships & Referrals to Osteopathy.
- Author(s)
- Mead Charlotte
- Abstract
- Background: GPs relationships and referrals to osteopathy is a complex subject, of which there are varying accounts. A small proportion of NHS Primary Care Trusts employ osteopaths, but overall GP’s access to osteopathy is limited to private practice. Objective: To explore GPs attitudes to osteopathy and their referral behaviour to osteopathy, in view of their access routes and own personal and professional experiences of osteopathy. Method: Postal survey pack to 200 GPs randomly selected from North West & Greater London. Results: A statistically significant relationship exists between whether GPs have received osteopathic treatment or not and their perceived effectiveness of osteopathy. Those respondents that had received osteopathic treatment believed osteopathy to be more effective than those who had not. Two common themes emerged; the need for osteopathy to be more widely available on the NHS, and the need for greater education of GPs about osteopathy. Conclusion: Education and experiences, both professional and personal, regarding osteopathy are of key significance in the understanding of GP’s relationships and referrals to osteopathy. NHS funding may be perceived as the main barrier to the advancement of the inter-professional relationships between GPs and osteopaths, although more detailed research, on a larger scale, needs to be undertaken to gain further insight into this complex topic.
- Abstract
- Background: GPs relationships and referrals to osteopathy is a complex subject, of which there are varying accounts. A small proportion of NHS Primary Care Trusts employ osteopaths, but overall GP’s access to osteopathy is limited to private practice. Objective: To explore GPs attitudes to osteopathy and their referral behaviour to osteopathy, in view of their access routes and own personal and professional experiences of osteopathy. Method: Postal survey pack to 200 GPs randomly selected from North West & Greater London. Results: A statistically significant relationship exists between whether GPs have received osteopathic treatment or not and their perceived effectiveness of osteopathy. Those respondents that had received osteopathic treatment believed osteopathy to be more effective than those who had not. Two common themes emerged; the need for osteopathy to be more widely available on the NHS, and the need for greater education of GPs about osteopathy. Conclusion: Education and experiences, both professional and personal, regarding osteopathy are of key significance in the understanding of GP’s relationships and referrals to osteopathy. NHS funding may be perceived as the main barrier to the advancement of the inter-professional relationships between GPs and osteopaths, although more detailed research, on a larger scale, needs to be undertaken to gain further insight into this complex topic.
- presented at
- British School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2011
- Date Submitted
- 3.2.2012 00:00:00
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Pub-Identifier
- 15082
- Inst-Identifier
- 780
- Keywords
- Osteopathy, general practitioners, referrals, NHS
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Mead Charlotte, “GP’s Relationships & Referrals to Osteopathy.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 14, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/1756