[General Practice: continuously developing]

Abstract

Over the past 10 years there have been significant developments in general practice regarding diagnostics, differentiation of competences of general practitioners, cooperation within primary care and with secondary care, task delegation and patient information provision. Less progress has been made in other areas: E-health applications are rarely used, and there is no clear guideline for an integrated policy in patients with multimorbidity. General practitioners also continue to suffer from excessive regulatory pressure, excessive protocols and standardization. In the coming decade, GPs will continue to work in accordance with the core values ​​of their profession: 'person-oriented', 'medical-generalist', 'continuous' and 'jointly'. Their function to provide guidance is becoming increasingly important. In addition, more diagnostics and treatment will take place at the interface between general practice and secondary care. Chronic care will focus more on the needs and wishes of the individual patient. GPs retain their important role in terminal palliative care and emergency care.