General Practice Cooperatives Research Articles

Minor traumatic injuries in the emergency department pre- and post-implementation of an emergency care access point.

In the Netherlands, out-of-hours General Practice Cooperatives (GPCs) increasingly collaborate with Emergency Departments (EDs) to form an Emergency Care Access Point (ECAP). ECAPs aim to decrease the number of low-urgent ED attendances, of which many compromise minor traumatic injuries. In this study, we evaluated the impact of ECAP implementation on the incidence of minor traumatic injuries in the ED. We evaluated a total of 2772 ED patients who presented with a minor traumatic injury (categorized into traumatic wounds and isolated extremity injuries) 1 year before and 1 year after ECAP implementation. We compared patient characteristics, throughput, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up before and after ECAP implementation. ECAP implementation was associated with a reduction in ED volume for minor traumatic injuries: -12.4% for isolated extremity injuries (1249 vs. 1094) and -74.6% for traumatic wounds (342 vs. 87). Multivariable logistic regression analysis controlling for patient characteristics showed that ECAP implementation was associated with higher rates of substantial injuries in the ED (OR 1.20, 95% CI = 1.01-1.43), and more patients requiring outpatient follow-up. Implementation of an ECAP was associated with a reduction of ED utilization by patients with minor traumatic injuries, traumatic wounds in particular. This healthcare intervention may therefore help to reduce ED utilization for low-urgent complaints.

The Value of Merging Medical Data from Ambulance Services and General Practice Cooperatives Using Triple Aim Outcomes.

Background:Acute care services are currently overstretched in many high income countries. Overcrowding also plays a major role in acute care in the Netherlands. In a region of the Netherlands, the general practice cooperative (GPC) and ambulance service have begun to integrate their care, and the rapid and complete transfer of information between these two care organisations is now the basis for delivering appropriate care. The primary aim of this mixed-methods study is to evaluate the Netherlands Triage System (NTS) merger project and answering the question: What is the added value of implementing a digital NTS merger in terms of healthcare use and healthcare costs? A secondary question is: What are the experiences of patients and care professionals in different acute healthcare organisations following implementation of the digital NTS merger?Methods:Patients who made an acute care request during the 12 months before the NTS merge intervention (control period) were compared with matched patients in the 12 months following the start of the NTS merge. Outcomes included difference in healthcare use 30 days after an acute event and patient’ and care professional’ experiences during the intervention period. To assess healthcare costs, we used reference prices updated to 2021.Results:Compared to patients in the control period, patients in the intervention period were hospitalized less often (52.9% vs 64.4%, p = 0.061) and had fewer emergency department (ED) visits (58.7% vs 69.3%, p = 0.074) in the 30 days following the acute care request. The ED costs were significantly lower during the intervention period compared to the control period (p = 0.042). Furthermore, patients in the intervention period were very satisfied overall with the acute care network (4.63 of 5) and care professionals were fairly satisfied with the cooperation to date (2.73 of 4).Conclusion:The Triple Aim for acute care can be met using relatively simple interventions, but medical data merging is a prerequisite for achieving more robust results covering on the various aspects of the Triple Aim. These successes should be communicated so that a common language can be developed that will support the successful further implementation of larger scale initiatives.

Organisation and characteristics of out-of-hours primary care during a COVID-19 outbreak: A real-time observational study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, general practitioners worldwide re-organise care in very different ways because of the lack of evidence-based protocols. This paper describes the organisation and the characteristics of consultations in Belgian out-of-hours primary care during five weekends at the peak of a COVID-19 outbreak and compares it to a similar period in 2019. Real-time observational study using pseudonymised routine clinical data extracted out of reports from home visits, telephone- and physical consultations (iCAREdata). Nine general practice cooperatives (GPCs) participated covering a population of 1 513 523. All GPCs rapidly re-organised care in order to handle the outbreak and provide a safe working environment. The average consultation rate was 222 per 100 000 citizens per weekend. These consultations were handled by telephone alone in 40% (N = 6293). A diagnosis at risk of COVID-19 was registered in 6692 (43%) consultations,. Out of 5311 physical consultations, 1460 were at risk of COVID-19 of which 443 (30%) did not receive prior telephone consultation to estimate this risk. Compared to 2019, the workload initially increased due to telephone consultations but afterwards declined drastically. The physical consultation rate declined by 45% with a marked decline in diagnoses unrelated to COVID-19. General practitioners can rapidly re-organise out-of-hours care to handle patient flows during a COVID-19 outbreak. Forty percent of the out-of-hours primary care contacts are handled by telephone consultations alone. We recommend to give a telephone consultation to all patients and not to rely on call takers to differentiate between infectious and regular care. The demand for physical consultations declined drastically provoking questions about patient's safety for care unrelated to COVID-19.

An analytic observational study on complaints management in the general practice out of hours care setting: who complains, why, and what can we do about it?

BackgroundGeneral Practice Co-Operatives provide most out of hours care in communities in Ireland. Limited data exists on patient complaints. This study reports on complaints at Kildare and West Wicklow Doctors on Call (‘K Doc’), a GP Co-Operative in Ireland, examining the impact of a formal risk reduction strategy implemented (2010-2013). The aim of the study was to determine if it was possible to reduce the rate of written complaints per 1000 consultations through a formal approach encompassing evaluation of complaints, improved communication in relation to complaints, and more direct use of insights gained from complaints analysis in continuing professional development at the Co-Operative.MethodsInitially, complaints submitted over an 18 month period (01.06.08 to 31.12.09) were analysed. Complaint rate (number of complaints per 1000 consultations), complainant demographics, aspects of complaint response at the Co-Operative, and nature of complaint were recorded. Based on analysis, a risk reduction strategy was undertaken, including procedural change, focused training and education. Areas selected for improvement during a second phase of data collection included complaints rate, timeliness of Co-Operative response to complaint, and rate of complaint notification to patient’s GP. Further analysis was then carried out over a 45 month period (01.01.10 to 30.09.13).ResultsFrom 2008-2013, 216,716 patient consultations occurred. Complaints were received from 131 individuals, regarding 125 patients. Following introduction of risk reduction strategy, complaints rate reduced by 36 %, from 0.77 to 0.49 per 1000 consultations (p = 0.02) between the two periods of data collection. Timeliness of response from Co-Operative to the complainant improved from 63 % to 75 %. Notification of complaint to the patient’s GP improved from 48 % to 96 %.Most complaints were not associated with medically significant events. The largest categories of complaint related to clinical care (55 % n = 69), cost (46 %, n = 58), communication (42 %, n = 53), and process of care (15 %, n = 19). Mothers of affluent paediatric patients were most likely to make formal complaints.ConclusionsThis study reports a statistically significant reduction in complaints rate of 36 % following introduction of risk reduction strategies at a GP Co –Operative. Out of hours consulting is known to be an area of high medical risk. Findings are of interest where number and costs of complaints against GPs are elsewhere reported to be rising, contributing to medical inflation, and to public concern.

Improving Care And Research Electronic Data Trust Antwerp (iCAREdata): a research database of linked data on out-of-hours primary care.

BackgroundPrimary out-of-hours care is developing throughout Europe. High-quality databases with linked data from primary health services can help to improve research and future health services.MethodsIn 2014, a central clinical research database infrastructure was established (iCAREdata: Improving Care And Research Electronic Data Trust Antwerp, www.icaredata.eu) for primary and interdisciplinary health care at the University of Antwerp, linking data from General Practice Cooperatives, Emergency Departments and Pharmacies during out-of-hours care. Medical data are pseudonymised using the services of a Trusted Third Party, which encodes private information about patients and physicians before data is sent to iCAREdata.ResultsiCAREdata provides many new research opportunities in the fields of clinical epidemiology, health care management and quality of care. A key aspect will be to ensure the quality of data registration by all health care providers.ConclusionsThis article describes the establishment of a research database and the possibilities of linking data from different primary out-of-hours care providers, with the potential to help to improve research and the quality of health care services.

Factors associated with variation in urgency of primary out-of-hours contacts in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesDutch primary out-of-hours care is provided by general practice cooperatives (GPCs). Although most GPCs use the same standardised triage system, differences between GPCs exist in the urgency assigned to patients’...

Service Users’ and Caregivers’ Perspectives on Continuity of Care in Out-of-Hours Primary Care

Modernization policies in primary care, such as the introduction of out-of-hours general practice cooperatives, signify a marked departure from many service users' traditional experiences of continuity of care. We report on a case study of accounts of service users with chronic conditions and their caregivers of continuity of care in an out-of-hours general practice cooperative in Ireland. Using Strauss and colleagues' Chronic Illness Trajectory Framework, we explored users' and caregivers' experiences of continuity in this context. Whereas those dealing with "routine trajectories" were largely satisfied with their experiences, those dealing with "problematic trajectories" (characterized by the presence of, for example, multimorbidity and complex care regimes) had considerable concerns about continuity of experiences in this service. Results highlight that modernization policies that have given rise to out-of-hours cooperatives have had a differential impact on service users with chronic conditions and their caregivers, with serious consequences for those who have "problematic" trajectories.

Information transfer to out-of-hours co-operatives: a survey of general practitioners’ views in relation to palliative patients

BackgroundIn Ireland, weekend and night medical cover for community based patients is largely provided by general practice co-operatives. Doctors working in this service do not have direct access to patients’...

Patient safety in out-of-hours primary care: a review of patient records

BackgroundMost patients receive healthcare in primary care settings, but relatively little is known about patient safety. Out-of-hours contacts are of particular importance to patient safety. Our aim was to examine the incidence, types, causes, and consequences of patient safety incidents at general practice cooperatives for out-of-hours primary care and to examine which factors were associated with the occurrence of patient safety incidents.MethodsA retrospective study of 1,145 medical records concerning patient contacts with four general practice cooperatives. Reviewers identified records with evidence of a potential patient safety incident; a physician panel determined whether a patient safety incident had indeed occurred. In addition, the panel determined the type, causes, and consequences of the incidents. Factors associated with incidents were examined in a random coefficient logistic regression analysis.ResultsIn 1,145 patient records, 27 patient safety incidents were identified, an incident rate of 2.4% (95% CI: 1.5% to 3.2%). The most frequent incident type was treatment (56%). All incidents had at least partly been caused by failures in clinical reasoning. The majority of incidents did not result in patient harm (70%). Eight incidents had consequences for the patient, such as additional interventions or hospitalisation. The panel assessed that most incidents were unlikely to result in patient harm in the long term (89%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age was significantly related to incident occurrence: the likelihood of an incident increased with 1.03 for each year increase in age (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.04).ConclusionPatient safety incidents occur in out-of-hours primary care, but most do not result in harm to patients. As clinical reasoning played an important part in these incidents, a better understanding of clinical reasoning and guideline adherence at GP cooperatives could contribute to patient safety.

Pre-notification did not increase response rate in addition to follow-up: a randomized trial

Objective Although there is growing evidence on the effectiveness of pre-notification and follow-up on response rates in patient surveys, no studies report the effectiveness of pre-notification in addition to follow-up. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a pre-notification by mail on the response rate in a patient survey with follow-up, compared with follow-up or pre-notification only. Study Design and Setting Randomized trial that compared (1) a combination of pre-notification and follow-up with (2) pre-notification only and (3) follow-up only. The trial was integrated in a survey study among patients, which measured their experiences with general practice cooperatives for out-of-hour care. Results Of the total number of 880 patients who received the questionnaire, 45% returned it. No significant effect was found of the combination of pre-notification and follow-up compared with the two other arms of the trial. Conclusion Adding pre-notification to follow-up in a patient survey had no additional effect on the response rate. This finding must be interpreted with respect to the questionnaire and the study population.

Out-of-hours primary care: development of indicators for prescribing and referring

Dutch general practitioners have reorganized their out-of-hours primary health care to general practice cooperatives. Good insight into the quality of delivered medical care is important to make the accountability of health practitioners and managers transparent to society and to identify and minimize medical errors. Development of a set of quality indicators for internal quality improvement in out-of-hours primary clinical care. A systematic approach combining the opinion of three different general practitioner expert panels, and an empirical test in daily practice. The indicators were based on clinical, evidence-based, national guidelines. We tested the validity, feasibility, reliability and opportunity for quality improvement. Of the 80 available national clinical guidelines, 29 were approved and selected by the first general practitioner expert panel. Out of these 29 guidelines, 73 indicators concerning prescribing and referring were selected by the second panel. In an empirical test on 36 254 patient contacts, 7344 patient contacts (22.7%) were relevant for the assessment of these 73 indicators. Six indicators were excluded because they scored more than 15% missing values. In total, 38 indicators were excluded because the opportunity for quality improvement was limited (performance score > or =90%). In the final meeting, the third general practitioner expert panel excluded five indicators, leading to a final set of 24 indicators. This study shows the importance of subjecting indicators to an empirical test in practice. The national clinical guidelines are only partially applicable in the assessment of out-of-hours primary care. They need to be expanded with topics that are related to general practitioner care in an out-of-hours setting and acute medical problems.

General practice cooperatives: long waiting times for home visits due to long distances?

BackgroundThe introduction of large-scale out-of-hours GP cooperatives has led to questions about increased distances between the GP cooperatives and the homes of patients and the increasing waiting times for home visits in urgent cases. We studied the relationship between the patient's waiting time for a home visit and the distance to the GP cooperative. Further, we investigated if other factors (traffic intensity, home visit intensity, time of day, and degree of urgency) influenced waiting times.MethodsCross-sectional study at four GP cooperatives. We used variance analysis to calculate waiting times for various categories of traffic intensity, home visit intensity, time of day, and degree of urgency. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to calculate to what degree these factors affected the ability to meet targets in urgent cases.ResultsThe average waiting time for 5827 consultations was 30.5 min. Traffic intensity, home visit intensity, time of day and urgency of the complaint all seemed to affect waiting times significantly. A total of 88.7% of all patients were seen within 1 hour. In the case of life-threatening complaints (U1), 68.8% of the patients were seen within 15 min, and 95.6% of those with acute complaints (U2) were seen within 1 hour. For patients with life-threatening complaints (U1) the percentage of visits that met the time target of 15 minuts decreased from 86.5% (less than 2.5 km) to 16.7% (equals or more than 20 km).Discussion and conclusionAlthough home visits waiting times increase with increasing distance from the GP cooperative, it appears that traffic intensity, home visit intensity, and urgency also influence waiting times. For patients with life-threatening complaints waiting times increase sharply with the distance.

Out-of-hours co-operatives: General practitioner satisfaction with governance and working arrangements

Objective. General practice co-operatives have led to significant improvements in quality of life for general practitioners. Little is known about general practitioners’ own experiences with the working arrangements and governance of co-operatives. This study investigates GP satisfaction, the working environment, governance and future developments in co-operatives. Methods. A questionnaire was sent to GPs in two co-operatives in the Republic of Ireland, covering mixed urban and rural areas. Results. Of 221 GPs in the co-operatives, 82% responded and confirmed the co-operatives’ positive effects on their lives. However, 57% still received requests for out-of-hours care while off duty, most commonly from patients who preferred to see their own doctor. Half felt overburdened by out-of-hours work, especially those over 40 y of age. Twenty-five per cent were dissatisfied with the GP complaints mechanism. The majority (63%) would prefer a GP/health board partnership for the organization of out of hours, while 23% wanted sole responsibility. GPs indicated a strong need for better ancillary services such as nursing, mental health, dentistry, pharmacy and social work. Access to records is an important issue in terminal care and mental illness. Conclusion. While GP co-operatives are a success story for general practice, they will work better for general practitioners and their patients if nursing, mental health, dentistry, pharmacy and social services are improved. Support and training is needed in mental health, palliative and emergency care to increase competence and reduce stress. GPs are willing to work with health authorities in further co-operative development. More attention needs to be paid to the complaints and suggestions of GPs in the running and governance of their co-operatives.

The impact of a general practice co-operative on accident and emergency services, patient satisfaction and GP satisfaction.

The advent of general practice co-operatives represented a fundamental change in the delivery and organization of out-of-hours services. Concerns have been voiced that co-operatives might impact adversely on workload in accident and emergency (A&E) departments. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of establishing a general practice co-operative on use of A&E services, patient satisfaction and GP satisfaction. A controlled before and after study of a GP co-operative in Sheffield, UK was carried out. A postal questionnaire was sent to 26 911 people, 13 442 before and 13 469 after the opening of the co-operative, to determine service use, in particular A&E attendance, in the previous 4 weeks. Patient satisfaction was assessed through structured interviews with 653 patients. GP satisfaction was assessed using a postal survey of all 98 Sheffield practices 2 years after the opening of the co-operative. There was no change in the use of A&E services, odds ratio = 1.08 (95% confidence interval 0.60-1.94). There was no change in patient satisfaction overall, mean difference 0.02 (-0.32 to 0.36). Sixty-seven per cent of doctors in member practices were much more satisfied with out-of-hours duty compared with 10% in non-member practices (P < 0.001). General practice co-operatives have been successful in achieving their policy objectives, improving GP morale without jeopardizing patient satisfaction or impacting adversely on A&E services.

Drug administration in custody

This paper describes the system for drug administration to prisoners in custody which has been developed at U Division, Kilmarnock in Strathelyde. The protocols agreed by the police surgeons in the area are described. The system is relevant to all police surgeons in their daily work, particularly with the advent of general practice cooperatives and the decline in personal carriage of all but the most acutely required drugs.

Changing the pattern out of hours: a survey of general practice cooperatives

Since early 1995 substantial changes have been taking place in general medical services provided out of hours. A package of revisions to terms and conditions have been agreed, including reimbursing...