Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Led to Changes in the Tasks of the Primary Care Workforce? An International Survey among General Practices in 38 Countries (PRICOV-19)

Groenewegen, Peter; Poel, Esther Van; Spreeuwenberg, Peter; Batenburg, Ronald; Mallen, Christian; Murauskienė, Liubovė; Peris, Antoni; Pétré, Benoît; Schaubroeck, Emmily; Stark, Stefanie; Sigurðsson, Emil L.; Tatsioni, Athina; Vafeidou, Kyriaki; Willems, Sara

doi:10.3390/ijerph192215329

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…According to our findings, since the COVID-19 pandemic, staff members of PC practices have been more involved and proactive in patient care, as well as in distributing work in the case that a staff member in practice is missing owing to COVID-19 infection/quarantine. This is in line with the findings of the Groenewegen et al study, indicating that PC practices also changed the tasks of healthcare personnel in response to the needs for care during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 38 ]. Many PRICOV study participants agreed that their responsibilities had increased and that GPs and GP trainees were more involved in proactively reaching out to patients who might delay seeking healthcare [ 38 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…This is in line with the findings of the Groenewegen et al study, indicating that PC practices also changed the tasks of healthcare personnel in response to the needs for care during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 38 ]. Many PRICOV study participants agreed that their responsibilities had increased and that GPs and GP trainees were more involved in proactively reaching out to patients who might delay seeking healthcare [ 38 ]. However, pandemics are high-stakes situations, and PC workers should frequently manage difficult and unacknowledged burdens of responsibility.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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Health Service Management and Patient Safety in Primary Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kosovo

Bojaj

Tahirbegolli

Beqiri³

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Background: Several changes must be made to the services to ensure patient safety and enable delivering services in environments where the danger of infection of healthcare personnel and patients in primary care (PC) institutions is elevated, i.e., during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: This study aimed to examine patient safety and healthcare service management in PHC practices in Kosovo during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire among 77 PHC practices. Results: Our main finding reveals a safer organization of PC practices and services since the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous period before the pandemic. The study also shows a collaboration between PC practices in the close neighborhood and more proper human resource management due to COVID-19 suspicion or infection. Over 80% of the participating PC practices felt the need to introduce changes to the structure of their practice. Regarding infection protection measures (IPC), our study found that health professionals’ practices of wearing a ring or bracelet and wearing nail polish improved during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PC practice health professionals had less time to routinely review guidelines or medical literature. Despite this, implementing triage protocols over the phone has yet to be applied at the intended level by PC practices in Kosovo. Conclusions: Primary care practices in Kosovo responded to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis by modifying how they organize their work, implementing procedures for infection control, and enhancing patient safety.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Health Service Management and Patient Safety in Primary Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kosovo

Bojaj

Tahirbegolli

Beqiri³

et al. 2023

IJERPH

Self Cite

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“…There has been some major change in healthcare workers' decision-making in times of uncertainty in particular when allocating resources within this challenging clinical situation (29,30). This certainly has led to an impact on both the physical and mental health needs of healthcare workers, fears of transmitting the virus to family members, and lack of personal protection equipment, which has certainly led depleted workforce (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36).…”

Section: Effects On Healthcare Staff Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decision-making during a non-pandemic environment can be in itself challenging for most healthcare workers. However, with the supplement of a pandemic, it has certainly added a new dimension to how decision-making in times of uncertainty is managed and has since been quite difficult for some healthcare workers when allocating resources within this challenging clinical situation [29,30]. This extra burden has certainly played a role in both the physical and mental health needs of healthcare workers [31].…”

Section: Future Of Primary Care Post-pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Care: A Scoping Review

Khalil-Khan¹,

Khan²

2023

Cureus

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The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on various aspects of everyday life, including healthcare provision. The aim of the scoping review was to collate, summarize, and discuss this literature, in light of the impact COVID-19 had on Primary care. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) four-stage process framework for reporting was followed. A total of 31 studies were included in this review. Based upon our review we found COVID-19 pandemic on Primary Care, has made significant effects on 1) service redesign, 2) long-term illness care provision, 3) healthcare staff well-being and 4) the post-pandemic future of Primary Care. The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated, how a pandemic can drastically change the process of healthcare provision within the community, as evidenced by the change in consultation styles with patients, the impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of health workers, a shift from isolated practice to teamwork, as well as the ability of healthcare workers to seek prompt help with their health. Studies have demonstrated progress in knowledge and experience gained by healthcare workers when tackling COVID-19, and how these can be implemented in possible future pandemics affecting Primary Care, however, further research is required within this sphere.

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“…Although the merits of outreach work are widely acknowledged [ 13 , 22 ], the implementation in practice is regarded as challenging [ 13 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. For example, previous evidence demonstrated that several practice characteristics are decisive in setting up outreach work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Organization of Outreach Work for Vulnerable Patients in General Practice during COVID-19: Results from the Cross-Sectional PRICOV-19 Study in 38 Countries

Poel

Collins

Groenewegen

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected vulnerable populations’ access to health care. By proactively reaching out to them, general practices attempted to prevent the underutilization of their services. This paper examined the association between practice and country characteristics and the organization of outreach work in general practices during COVID-19. Linear mixed model analyses with practices nested in countries were performed on the data of 4982 practices from 38 countries. A 4-item scale on outreach work was constructed as the outcome variable with a reliability of 0.77 and 0.97 at the practice and country level. The results showed that many practices set up outreach work, including extracting at least one list of patients with chronic conditions from their electronic medical record (30.1%); and performing telephone outreach to patients with chronic conditions (62.8%), a psychological vulnerability (35.6%), or possible situation of domestic violence or a child-rearing situation (17.2%). Outreach work was positively related to the availability of an administrative assistant or practice manager (p < 0.05) or paramedical support staff (p < 0.01). Other practice and country characteristics were not significantly associated with undertaking outreach work. Policy and financial interventions supporting general practices to organize outreach work should focus on the range of personnel available to support such practice activities.

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Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Led to Changes in the Tasks of the Primary Care Workforce? An International Survey among General Practices in 38 Countries (PRICOV-19)

Cited by 26 publications

References 32 publications

Health Service Management and Patient Safety in Primary Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kosovo

Health Service Management and Patient Safety in Primary Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kosovo

The Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Care: A Scoping Review

The Organization of Outreach Work for Vulnerable Patients in General Practice during COVID-19: Results from the Cross-Sectional PRICOV-19 Study in 38 Countries

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