As a hospital consultant I read my wife’s GP papers to keep up to date with their views.
I felt compelled to write after reading your article about the Evercare study. The headline, ‘Matrons do not cut hospital admissions’ immediately grabbed my attention (GP, 17 November).
However, on going to the original paper it was quickly clear that the outcomes as stated were not statistically significant, the trial was not randomised, the groups were not matched and indeed the whole thing was completely riddled with methodological flaws making its conclusions speculative at best.
Busy GPs are not going to have the time to study original papers unless they are particularly interested in the subject matter.
I feel you have failed to properly report the conclusions of this paper, which are that it showed no effect and should have never been published in the first place.
Dr Nicholas Church
Consultant physician and gastroenterologist, Dunfermline, Fife
