Comparison of standards in training and non-training practices.

The in-practice component of vocational training should take place in practices working to high clinical and teaching standards. By means of a survey of its members, the Severn Faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners was able to compare training practices with the criteria of the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice, and with non-training practices. The training practices fell short of the criteria in a few areas, but the differences between the training and non-training practices were extensive. Progress towards achieving the standards set by the criteria should be monitored, and the criteria themselves should be made more precise.