This survey is concerned with the health care of rural communities and in particular with the
Family Care Team (F.C.T.).
The emergence of the family care team is the most important development in rural practice
during the past 25 years; but the term means different things to different people. To me it means
a tightly-integrated combination of medical, sociological and nursing expertise at the point of
primary contact.
Holland and Israel were the two countries chosen for comparison with the United Kingdom,
first because they are small and easily covered in depth during a six week visit to each; secondly
because they contrast well. One is long-established, traditional and stable, while the other is an
emergent State with its institutions and services still in the melting pot.