Research conversation: Exploring the associations between access systems and continuity of care in UK general practice
21 October 2025 5-6pm
About the event
Continuity of care means patients seeing the same GP over time to develop a personal and trusting relationship. Good continuity of care is known to be better for patients’ health, but has been declining in the UK.
When someone wants to see a GP, they contact their practice and ask for an appointment. This can be done in different ways, and these are called the ‘access systems’ in a general practice.
Recently, there have been lots of changes to access systems, due to the high demand for appointments. However, patients say it is still very difficult to book an appointment with a GP they know. There has been very little research on how these different access systems have affected continuity of care.
In this research conversation, Hannah Mahoney will talk about her study to find out how continuity of care and access systems are linked.
In her study, staff working in General Practice will measure the level of continuity of care being delivered in their practice. They will also complete a questionnaire about the access systems used in their practice. We will review the data and describe any links we find and will then interview some staff members to get more detailed information.
We hope this information will help us understand how we can improve continuity of care in the UK. All participants will get feedback on how their data compares to other practices, which they can use to improve their care.
Our speaker
Hannah Mahoney is an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice, in the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol. This means she spends half of her time training to be a GP and half of her time doing research.
She is interested in continuity of care because she thinks it is one of the most important and valuable things about being a GP. She is new to research, so will really appreciate the insights from your discussions.
What is a research conversation?
Research Conversations are hosted by People in Health West of England and are informal sessions which are designed to give researchers and public contributors a chance to interact. Public contributors are encouraged to ask questions, learn about, and get involved in projects in their area.
