PRIMARY CARE
LAMBERT M. SURHONE, MARIAM T. TENNOE, SUSAN F. HENSSONOW
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Primary care is the term for the health services that play a central role in the local community.
It refers to the work of health care professionals who act as a first point of consultation for all patients.
Such a professional would usually be a general practitioner or family physician, depending on locality.
However, at the patient's discretion and according to their self-assessment of the seriousness of their ailment, they may opt to see another health care professional first, such as a pharmacist, or in some localities (such as the UK), a nurse.
The advantage of this approach is that these professionals usually have immediately available access and do not require an appointment.
They may then refer either to a primary care physician or to secondary care.
Primary care involves the widest scope of health care, including all ages of patients, patients of all socioeconomic and geographic origins, patients seeking to maintain optimal health, and patients with all manner of acute and chronic physical, mental and social health issues, including multiple chronic diseases
