A study of general practice consultations at Mosta Health Centre, Malta

Abstract

Primary care is the first contact for patients with health related problems. In Malta, primary health is provided by both private and state sectors. The state services are free-of-charge and provide a 24 hrs walk-in GP service at health centres as well as community care, immunisation and local clinics (bereg) for free prescriptions and blood pressure monitoring. The aim of this study was to obtain basic demographic data and reasons for encounter (RfEs) of patients attending Mosta Health Centre from 8am to 5pm between 16th July and 7th October 2012. The RfE data were collected with the International Classification of Primary Care Version 2 (ICPC-2) and compared with data from local and international studies. Patients attending the clinic during the first author’s allocated time at the GP clinic were anonymously recorded and data collected was organised according to gender, age, locality and RfE. The RfEs were classified according to ICPC-2 criteria. A total of 271 patients were reviewed, where 132 were male and 139 females. The age of patients ranged between 2 months and 86 years. The majority of patients were from Mosta and St. Paul’s Bay. The commonest RfE according to ICPC-2 was musculoskeletal complaints. Data collected showed that in general practice the reasons for consultations is vast with the most common RfEs being musculoskeletal problems, administrative work, health check-ups, respiratory problems and blood pressure monitoring. Improvement of the primary care services with an increase in resources would decrease the burden on secondary care.