A term describing a system of medical care in which individuals requiring advice on their health consult a named primary care physician (GENERAL PRACTITIONER (GP)) or partnership of practitioners. The availability of an individual's medical records, and the doctor's knowledge of his or her medical, family and social history, should facilitate prompt, appropriate decisions about investigations, treatment or referral to specialists. The traditional 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year care by a personal physician is now a rarity: continuity of care is now commonly based on a multi-disciplinary health team working from common premises. Changing social structures, population mobility and the complexity and cost of health care have driven this evolution. Some experts have argued that the changes are so great as to make continuity of care an unrealistic concept in the 21st century. Nevertheless, support inside and outside conventional medical practice for HOLISTIC medicine – a related concept for treating the whole person, body and mind – and the fact that many people still appreciate the facility to see their own doctors suggest that continuity of care is still a valid objective that is of value.