Family practice
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Healthcare complaints are underutilized for quality improvement in general practice. Systematic analysis of complaints has identified hot spots (areas across the care pathway where issues occur frequently) and blind spots (areas across the care pathway that cannot be observed by staff) in secondary care. The Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT) has been adapted to the HCAT(GP). ⋯ Complaints are valuable data for improving general practice. This study demonstrated that the HCAT(GP) can support the systematic analysis of general practice complaints, and identify hot spots and blind spots in care.
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There is uncertainty regarding how pre-existing conditions (morbidities) may influence the primary care investigation and management of individuals subsequently diagnosed with cancer. ⋯ Among cancer cases with up to 2 morbidities, there was no evidence of differences in diagnostic processes and intervals in primary care but higher morbidity burden was associated with longer time to diagnosis and higher likelihood of emergency referral.
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Hazardous alcohol use is one of the leading risk factors for morbidity and mortality in the world. Early identification and brief interventions (EIBIs) delivered in primary care is an effective but underutilized strategy to address this issue. Community-oriented strategies (COS) are suggested to facilitate EIBI delivery. ⋯ However, a theoretical reflection showed the use of a limited set of behaviour change techniques, which might support the use of COS. There remains a lot of possible strategies to explore. This review highlights the current evidence gap and discusses the next steps.
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Pharmacist services in general practice are expanding worldwide, with evidence to show pharmacists' presence in general practice has financial, workload, and clinical benefits. Yet, little is known globally about general practitioners' (GPs') views on their presence in general practice. ⋯ Based on the synthesis of GPs' views, we have created a conceptual model of factors that should be considered by policymakers, GPs, pharmacists, and other relevant stakeholders when developing or optimizing pharmacist services in general practice going forward.