Background: Chronic schizophrenia is challenging to manage in primary care.
Aims: We sought to establish the views of General Practitioners about managing patients with chronic schizophrenia in primary care.
Methods: A cross-sectional, postal survey questionnaire of a randomly selected sample of 20% of GPs was carried out.
Results: Most GPs (97.2%) have at least one person with schizophrenia attending their practice. A substantial number of GPs (22.2%) treat cases of schizophrenia without specialist input following an initial referral to psychiatric services. Almost all (88.7%) advised patients who had experienced multiple relapses to remain on medication indefinitely. One third of GPs reported that they always experience difficulties managing patients with schizophrenia in their practice. Non-adherence with prescribed medication and loss to follow-up were the commonest impediments to treatment encountered.
Conclusion: GPs require appropriate back up from specialist services to enable their management of chronic schizophrenia.