OBJECTIVE: To establish a hospital based shared-care clinic to investigate and manage benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with general practitioners (GPs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: During one year, 330 patients referred with suspected prostatic obstruction were investigated in an outreach clinic in a rural cottage hospital by urology department nurses according to a protocol. After this, they were referred directly back to their GPs with recommendations for their management or seen in the urologist's clinic. A questionnaire was completed by the GPs to assess their satisfaction with and attitudes to the clinic. RESULTS: One-third of the patients were referred directly back to their GP, a third were seen routinely and a third seen urgently in the urologist's clinic, usually because a prostate-specific antigen assay indicated the possibility of latent prostatic cancer. A survey confirmed that GP support for the clinic was unanimous whilst patients were reassured by the thoroughness and sensitivity of the clinic's nursing staff. CONCLUSION: The clinic reduced the workload of the GPs and urologists whilst providing a speedy and comprehensive assessment of patients presenting with suspected prostatic obstruction.
OBJECTIVE: To establish a hospital based shared-care clinic to investigate and manage benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with general practitioners (GPs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: During one year, 330 patients referred with suspected prostatic obstruction were investigated in an outreach clinic in a rural cottage hospital by urology department nurses according to a protocol. After this, they were referred directly back to their GPs with recommendations for their management or seen in the urologist's clinic. A questionnaire was completed by the GPs to assess their satisfaction with and attitudes to the clinic. RESULTS: One-third of the patients were referred directly back to their GP, a third were seen routinely and a third seen urgently in the urologist's clinic, usually because a prostate-specific antigen assay indicated the possibility of latent prostatic cancer. A survey confirmed that GP support for the clinic was unanimous whilst patients were reassured by the thoroughness and sensitivity of the clinic's nursing staff. CONCLUSION: The clinic reduced the workload of the GPs and urologists whilst providing a speedy and comprehensive assessment of patients presenting with suspected prostatic obstruction.