Clinical decision making in a high-risk primary care environment: a qualitative study in the UK.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Examine clinical reasoning and decision making in an out of hours (OOH) primary care setting to gain insights into how general practitioners (GPs) make clinical decisions and manage risk in this environment.

Design

Semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions.

Setting

A 2-month qualitative interview study conducted in Oxfordshire, UK.

Participants

21 GPs working in OOH primary care.

Results

The most powerful themes to emerge related to dealing with urgent potentially high-risk cases, keeping patients safe and responding to their needs, while trying to keep patients out of hospital and the concept of 'fire fighting'. There were a number of well-defined characteristics that GPs reported making presentations easy or difficult to deal with

SUBMITTER: Balla J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3330259 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature