[How important is it for the patient to have a personal physician? A study of patients' attitudes and views on the accessibility of alternative health services in Bergen]

Abstract

In this survey, 600 respondents over the age of 25 chosen at random from two districts in the city of Bergen were asked about their own and their families' pattern of use of health services, particularly their use of physicians. 87% of the adults and 80% of the children reported having a "family doctor". The ties to these physicians were weak, however, since only 34% of the respondents said they would contact their family doctor if taken ill during normal consulting hours. Consequently, the term "family physician" seems to be used somewhat inaccurately in Norwegian health care.