Evaluation of a mobile branch surgery in a rural area.

Access to the family doctor at his or her surgery is a problem for many people living in rural Britain. The service provided by a caravan used as a general practice mobile branch surgery in a rural part of Norfolk was evaluated using a survey of residents and examination of practice records. In a village where the mobile surgery replaced a conventional branch surgery, consultation rates increased slightly during the first year of operation. In a village where the mobile surgery was a new facility, consultation rates increased substantially in the first year. Replies from residents indicated that although the limitations of the mobile surgery were recognised, the service reduced the problems of physical access in remote villages to the level of those in the village where the main surgery is situated.