Can GPs coordinate “whole person care”?
Purpose – As the notion of “integrated care” has received ever greater policy traction, so the idea that a named individual should take responsibility for coordinating the various elements of care for service users has also gained ground. The purpose of this paper is to look at the proposal to hand this role to GPs, examine the policy expectations and explore some of the implementation dilemmas. Design/methodology/approach – Review of policy documents and relevant literature. Findings – That the role of “care coordinator” has rarely succeeded in the past and that there are specific difficulties in expecting GPs to take on the task. Research limitations/implications – Review of existing literature linked to emergent policy – no original research. Originality/value – This is a new application of an enduring policy concept. Currently the literature is thin.