Why do patients seek primary medical care in emergency departments? An ethnographic exploration of access to general practice.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To describe how processes of primary care access influence decisions to seek help at the emergency department (ED).

Design

Ethnographic case study combining non-participant observation, informal and formal interviewing.

Setting

Six general practitioner (GP) practices located in three commissioning organisations in England.

Participants and methods

Reception areas at each practice were observed over the course of a working week (73 hours in total). Practice documents were collected and clinical and non-clinical staff were interviewed (n=19). Patients with recent ED use, or a carer if aged 16 and under, were interviewed (n=29).

Results

Past experience of accessing GP care recursively informed patient decisions about where to seek urgent care, an

SUBMITTER: MacKichan F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5623418 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature