about 2300 patients, so it is not so hard to get to know the most of them.
Almost 50% of the family doctors work in partnerships of group practices, together with other health care workers like nurses, social workers, physiotherapists.
Family doctors make many home visits. They also have a lot of contact with the district nurses that visit a patient at home.
Because of the essential functions of family doctors, they are in most cases the pivot when a patient needs home care.
Introducing mrs. Peterson, a patient.
Mrs. Peterson is 80 years old. She is a widow and has two children. One of them lives in the neighbourhood. Mrs. Peterson has been bothered by troubles and pain with walking for many years now. The last months the complaints get worse. When she decides she wants to seek medical care, the first one she goes to is her general practitioner. This doctor may have known her for years. He or she (about half of the GPs is female nowadays) probably also knew her husband and maybe her children. The general practitioner investigates her and comes to the conclusion that she might well need surgery to replace the hip. He (let's say 'he') writes a referral card for a surgeon. Mrs. Peterson now makes an appointment with a surgeon at the outpatient department of a hospital.
