The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden shift to a predominantly remote consulting model in primary care from March 2020. Little evidence exists examining the experience of remote consulting for people living with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) or fibromyalgia, with the current literature focusing on the challenges faced by clinicians and people living with these conditions. Clinical guidance highlights the importance of building therapeutic relationships and personalising care, but it is unclear how this translates into a remote or virtual consulting space. ⋯ Remote consulting has presented new challenges for primary care, and it is important to identify which groups of patients are most suited. This study explores the views from a group of patients that are associated with some complexity, and complements the literature that explores the ability to deliver relationship-based care when consulting digitally/remotely. Recommendations from the findings will be created for use by patients and clinicians alike.
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Mesothelioma is a terminal disease linked to asbestos exposure, often with a poor prognosis. Palliative care can be valuable at all stages of the disease trajectory. GPs have a key role in supporting such patients. Continuity is difficult to provide within the current NHS primary care system but is highly valued by patients with mesothelioma. ⋯ More research is needed to understand the experiences of continuity in primary care among people with mesothelioma. Specifically, there is an evidence gap regarding understanding their ability to achieve their desired level of continuity within primary care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Experiences of urine collection devices during suspected urinary tract infections: a qualitative study in primary care.
Up to 30% of urine samples from women with suspected urinary tract infection (UTI) are contaminated and need to be repeated, burdening health services and delaying antibiotic prescription. To prevent contamination, midstream urine (MSU) sampling, which can be difficult to achieve, is recommended. Urine collection devices (UCDs) that automatically capture MSU have been proposed as a solution. There are few studies exploring women's experiences of using such devices. ⋯ Most women agreed there was a need for a user- and environmentally-friendly device to improve urine collection. Although using UCDs can be difficult for women experiencing UTI symptoms, they may be appropriate for asymptomatic sampling in other clinical populations.
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Integrated care pathways can help to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and improve the overall quality of care for frail older patients. Although these integrated care pathways should be coordinated by GPs their level of commitment may vary. ⋯ The level of interest in the PAERPA ICP for frail older adults varied widely among GPs. These findings suggest that commitment to an integrated care pathway could be increased by customising the recruitment strategy as a function of the GP's profile.
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Google searches represent a snapshot of the world's interest in different topics and are reflected by Google Trends (GT). GT has gained recent popularity across various areas of healthcare research of interest to GPs, such as the seasonality of particular physical symptoms and population-level suicide risk. As a real-time data source, GT is appealing to healthcare researchers, but whether it has a place in primary care research remains largely unaddressed. ⋯ GT is an accessible and vast data source. This study demonstrated the potential for GT to play a role in researching health behaviours. However, this study also revealed key limitations of GT, and caution should be exercised by primary care researchers and GPs when using GT for research.