Reconceptualizing ‘Inappropriateness’: Researching Multiple Moral Positions in Demand for Primary Healthcare

Abstract

In a recently completed study of the management of ‘out-ofhours’ primary healthcare for children and ways in which judgements are made about legitimate access, the construct of ‘inappropriate demand’ is investigated. This seemingly intractable health care issue has not been resolved by research that rests on a one-sided conceptualization of the ‘problem’. In practice, ‘demand’ arises within complex processes of interaction between people taking a range of moral positions in particular contexts. This is illustrated with interpretations of some ethnographic material from the study. An argument is made for an alternative research approach to such contentious issues that acknowledges multiple and latent moral orientations, and reveals moral judgements in scientific guise.