To date, it has been difficult to raise the prestige of doctors that specialise in general practice - both amongst the medical profession and in terms of how they are perceived by consumers. Indeed, the number of doctors trained in “family medicine” (broadly equivalent to “general practice”) and working in clinics was only 2%. With such low numbers of generalist doctors and a high proportion of specialists working in the community, a major hurdle in establishing generalist primary health care services is the fragmentation of the delivery system.