Time, risk and routine in general practice1

The paper is based on interviews with a sample of 50 general practitioners. It explores their concepts of time’ and ‘task’ in relation to their attempts to create satisfying work roles. There is a contrast between practitioners in urban and rural settings. For urban practitioners the economy of time as a scarce resource generates an element of risk from brief, ‘routine’ diagnosis. For rural practitioners time is not seen as a scarce resource, but they face the risk of working without additional specialist services. For most practitioners the problem is dealt with pragmatically by varying the mix of risky and routine work.