The future of general practice in Newcastle upon Tyne.

A plan is presented for the future of general practice in Newcastle upon Tyne, in which general practices rather than individual practitioners would be responsible for providing a package of guaranteed minimum services. The services would include, at least, 24 h care of acute illness, continuity of care, management of specified chronic conditions according to agreed protocols, and certain preventive programmes. A computerised reporting system linked to computerised patient registration would enable targets to be set for the preventive programmes. Such an approach to primary health care follows the philosophy of Health for All, and could form the basis of a new general practitioner contract. Appropriate government funding in the future might be assured if general practice could demonstrate its ability to deliver a cost-effective service.