This book is a most excellent addition to the knowledge base needed to deliver high-quality primary clinical care. It is 10 years since the author last pulled together a collection of the most authoritative clinical guidelines in an easily digestible format. Now a whole plethora of information is available online covering primary to tertiary care which to the busy primary care clinician can be overwhelming. This is therefore no longer a collection of all available guidelines - this is unashamedly a selection of the guidelines relevant to primary care that Dr Smith finds most useful in his daily practice as a very experienced general practitioner. He has included various resources that I have also found useful but difficult to locate, even online.
I recommend this publication without any reservation at all and know it will make life easier and more fulfilling for us in primary care, but most of all ensure that our patients will benefit from care based on the very best of evidence. I suspect non-generalist clinicians will find this essential reading too. So may I congratulate the author on a real labour of love, detail and assiduity.
David Colin-Thomé in his Foreword
* Asthma
* Atrial fibrillation
* Breast disease
* Cervical cytology
* COPD
* Coronary heart disease
* Depression
* Diabetes
* Dyspepsia
* Eczema
* Epilepsy
* Growth charts
* Heart failure
* Hypertension
* Hypothyroidism
* Infertility
* Osteoporosis
* Otitis media
* Postmenopausal bleeding
* Prostatic hypertrophy
* Sore throat
* Stroke
* Suspected cancer
'User-friendly A4-size manual that is light enough to be carried in a doctor's bag. Like many GPs I often scribble diagrams on scraps pieces of paper to answer patients questions, but I now have some far superior pictures to show. I would definitely recommend Guide to the Primary Care Guidelines as a practical reference aid that can be dipped into during or after a surgery. It would also be a useful revision aid for the nMRCGP.' GP