Social inequalities in patient experiences with general practice and in access to specialists: the population-based HUNT Study

Background In countries with gatekeeping and equitable access to general practitioners (GPs), social inequalities in GP-patient interaction could be an important mechanism by which inequalities in access to medical specialists arise. The aim of this study was to investigate whether socioeconomic inequalities in experiences with general practice are associated with socioeconomic inequalities in access to specialist services.