The response from surgeries seems quite patchy. Luckily, my 94-year-old father has been kept an eye on (we're 70 miles apart so I can't visit him). Mind you, he does live next to the surgery. One young doctor only a couple of years back came round to see how he was getting on. But for the most part, yes, that world of comforting home visits seems confined to the past, as the real benefits they provided can't be quantified by "metrics".