A matter of methods: perspectives on the role of the British general practitioner in the care of people with HIV/AIDS.

This paper is a critique of, and a comment on, the debate about the role of British general practitioners (GPs) in HIV care. We argue that (1) this debate is conducted around arguments which leave significant aspects of GPs' contribution undocumented and unnoticed, and that (2) research has contributed to this omission. The paper reviews the history of the debate about GPs' involvement in HIV care and argues that social research using structured survey methods has reinforced the continuing negative image of GP care. The paper draws on an ethnographic research project in Lothian (Scotland) which found that many people with HIV strongly valued their ongoing personal relationship with their GP. People with HIV also valued the hospital-based outreach system which provided reliable and high quality care, but sometimes experienced the associated interprofessional information sharing and discussion as invasive and controlling. Their GP relationship was valued because it was outside this hospital-based system of care. The paper concludes by suggesting that future developments in GP care should build on this positive aspect of the GP-patient relationship.