Telemedicine and isolated communities: a UK perspective

There are still considerable inequalities in the provision of primary care in the UK in relation to need. Recruitment and retention of general practit ioners (GPs) is a problem, although this is worse in inner-city than in rur al areas. The main problem in rural areas of the UK is the accessibility of health services. GP consultation rates, hospital outpatient attendance rat es and inpatient admissions all decline with distance both to the doctors' surgeries and to hospitals. There is evidence that health services can be s uccessfully and effectively delivered to isolated communities by telemedici ne, but almost all of it relates to work done outside the UK. The experienc e has been generally good and should certainly be taken into account when p lanning future physician requirements and distribution.