| Source of record | UK Trials |
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN31962758 |
| Date ISRCTN assigned | 12/09/2003 |
| Local reference number(s) | SDO/34/2002 |
| Public title | The evaluation of a primary care based dermatology service |
| Scientific title |
|
| Acronym | N/A |
| Disease/condition/study domain | Non-urgent skin problems |
| Study hypothesis | To compare the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, accessibility and acceptability of a Primary Care Dermatology Service. This service is an example of the model, promoted in the NHS Plan, of services provided by GPs with special interests (GPSIs) to other GPs across a PCT area. |
| Design/methodology | Randomised controlled trial |
| Research ethics review | Not provided at time of registration. |
| Countries of trial | United Kingdom |
| Participants - inclusion criteria | Adult patients referred to a hospital dermatology clinic assessed on the basis of the referral letter to be potentially suitable for GPSI management. Suitable patients had non-urgent problems with a provisional diagnosis. |
| Participants - exclusion criteria | 1. Children aged less than 16 years
2. Urgent skin problems
3. Patients where the referral letter indicated that the referrer specifically requested hospital management or the patient clearly needed hospital facilities |
| Patient information material |
|
| Anticipated start date | 01/02/2002 |
| Anticipated end date | 30/04/2005 |
| Status of trial | Completed |
| Target number of participants | 544 (363 primary care arm; 181 hospital arm) |
| Interventions | The Bristol primary care dermatology service is staffed by two GPs with Special Interests (GPSIs) and a specialist nurse, and operates from a suburban health centre. It provides care for patients registered with the 29 general practices in one primary care trust. Both GPSIs have postgraduate training and experience in dermatology. All patients see a GPSI initially but may be followed up by a GPSI or the specialist nurse, or may be referred to hospital outpatient care if necessary. The control arm received care from the hospital outpatient dermatology clinic as usual.
The main study using a revised protocol applied to all patients recruited from 01/09/2002; all patients recruited before this were in the pilot study. |
| Primary outcome measure(s) | 1. Disease-related quality of life assessed using the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) and a single-item measure of improvement
2. Improved patient-perceived access, assessed using a new scale |
| Secondary outcome measure(s) | 1. Patient satisfaction with consultation (Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire) and with facilities (new scale)
2. Preference for site of care
3. Proportion of failed appointments
4. Waiting times to first appointment |
| Trial website | http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/PrimaryHealthCare/research.htm |
| Publications | Results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16332728 |
| Sources of funding | NHS Service Delivery and Organisation Programme (SDO) (UK) (ref: SDO/34/2002) |
| Sponsor name | NHS Service Delivery and Organisation Programme (SDO) (UK) |
| Sponsor details | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
99 Gower Street
London
United Kingdom
WC1E 6AZ |
| Sponsor telephone | +44 (0)20 7612 7980 |
| Sponsor email | sdo@lshtm.ac.uk |
| Contact name | Prof Chris Salisbury |
| Contact details | University of Bristol
Cotham House
Cotham Hill
Bristol
United Kingdom
BS6 6JL |
| Contact telephone | +44 (0)117 954 6658 |
| Contact email | c.salisbury@bristol.ac.uk |
| More information | For more up-to-date information please go to the ISRCTN link below. |
| Link to record in ISRCTN Register | ISRCTN31962758 |
| Date last extracted from ISRCTN register | 17/04/2008 |
