SORA

Advancing, promoting and sharing knowledge of health through excellence in teaching, clinical practice and research into the prevention and treatment of illness

General Practice in the Time of COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Service Evaluation of a Primary Care COVID-19 Service.

Hibberd, J; Carter, J; McCoy, M; Rafiq, M; Varma, A; Sanghera, R; Matthews, P; Rait, G (2021) General Practice in the Time of COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Service Evaluation of a Primary Care COVID-19 Service. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18 (6). p. 2895. ISSN 1660-4601 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062895
SGUL Authors: Carter, Jessica Alexandra

[img]
Preview
PDF Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Primary care coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinics were rapidly introduced across the UK to review potentially infectious patients. Evaluation of these services is needed to guide future implementation. This mixed-methods study evaluates patient demographics, clinical presentation, co-morbidities, service usage, and outcomes for the Islington COVID-19 service (London, UK) and from April to May 2020 and thematically analyses survey responses from 29 service clinicians and 41 GP referrers on their service experience. Of the 237 patients booked into the service, a significant number of referrals (n = 91; 38.6%) were made after the presumed infectious period of 14 days. Almost half of all adult referrals (49%) were dealt with remotely (via telephone/video consultation +/- remote oxygen saturation monitoring). The service was perceived to provide a safe way to see patients; it developed local expertise, learning, and empowerment; and it was a positive teamworking experience. These findings suggest that the management of many patients with COVID-19 symptoms is possible in routine general practice with minimal risk through the implementation of remote consultation methods and in patients who present after the post-infectious period. Additionally, the use of remote saturation monitoring and local GP COVID-19 "experts" can support practices to manage COVID-19 patients. Future primary care COVID-19 services should act as empowerment tools to assist GPs to safely manage their own patients and provide support for GPs in this process.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: COVID-19, general practice, pandemics, service evaluation, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Adult, COVID-19, General Practice, Humans, London, Primary Health Care, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, pandemics, service evaluation, general practice, MD Multidisciplinary, Toxicology
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Infection and Immunity Research Institute (INII)
Journal or Publication Title: Int J Environ Res Public Health
ISSN: 1660-4601
Language: eng
Dates:
DateEvent
12 March 2021Published
6 March 2021Accepted
Publisher License: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Projects:
Project IDFunderFunder ID
NIHR300290National Institute for Health Researchhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000272
Pan-London Clinical Research FellowshipRM PartnersUNSPECIFIED
PubMed ID: 33809000
Web of Science ID: WOS:000639176500001
Go to PubMed abstract
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/113255
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062895

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item