General practice partnerships: an exploratory review

Presents the results of a literature review on general practice partnerships. The objective was to find out what has been written and by whom. The results of the review indicate that very little empirical work has been carried out and most of the publications are by doctors addressing the practical problems of working in partnerships. Given this paucity of material, goes on to discuss relevant literature from social science disciplines and presents five perspectives on partnerships. Each perspective yields questions worthy of further investigation particularly at a time when primary care is experiencing rapid change and development.