9

Community orientation

This competency is about the management of the health and social care of the practice population and local community.

Insufficient Evidence

From the available evidence, the doctor’s performance cannot be placed on a higher point of this developmental scale.

Needs Further Development

Identifies important characteristics of the local community that might impact upon patient care, particularly the epidemiological, social, economic and ethnic features.

Competent

Applies an understanding of these features to improve the management of the practice’s patient population.

Excellent

Uses an understanding of these features to contribute to the development of local healthcare delivery e.g. service design.

Identifies important elements of local health care provision in hospital and in the community and how these can be appropriately accessed by doctors and patients.

Uses this understanding to inform referral practices and to encourage patients to access available resources.

Uses an understanding of the resources and the financial and regulatory frameworks within which primary care operates, to improve local healthcare.

Identifies how the limitations of local healthcare resources might impact upon patient care.

Optimises the use of limited resources, e.g. through cost-effective prescribing.

Balances the needs of individual patients with the health needs of the local community, within the available resources.