Access to General Practitioners during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: a nationwide survey of doctors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Portuguese National Health System (NHS) provides universal coverage and near-free health care, but the population has high out-of-pocket expenses and unmet care needs. This suggests impaired accessibility, a key dimension of primary care. The COVID-19 pandemic has further affected access to health care. Understanding General Practitioners' (GP) experiences during the pandemic is necessary to reconfigure post-pandemic service delivery and to plan for future emergencies. This study aimed to assess accessibility to GPs, from their perspective, evaluating determinants of accessibility during the second pandemic year in Portugal.

Methods

All GPs working in NHS Family Practices in continental Portugal were invited to participate in a survey in 2021. A structured onl

SUBMITTER: Granja M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9924884 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature