University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

General practitioners' perceptions of the appropriateness and inappropriateness of our of hours calls

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 14:52 authored by Helen Smith, Val Lattimer, Steve George
Background: The number of out-of-hours calls to general practitioners (GPs) has increased steadily during the past 20 years. The proportion of inappropriate calls are reportedly increasing but we know very little about how GPs judge a call to be appropriate or inappropriate. Aim: To determine the factors that influence GPs' perceptions of the appropriateness or inappropriateness of out-of-hours calls. Design of Study: Postal questionnaire survey. Setting: GP members of the Wessex Primary Care Research Network (WReN) and the Northern Primary Care Research Network (NoReN). Method: General Practitioners were asked to write down what they meant by an 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' out-of-hours call. The free text was subjected to content analysis. Results: Detailed responses were received from 146 (73%) GPs. General practitioners appear to have a well developed classification of the appropriateness of out-of-hours calls. Factors that make calls appropriate include not only the nature of patients' symptoms and illness but also non-medical factors such as patients' compliance and politeness. Conclusion: The inclusion by GPs of non-medical factors in their conceptualisation of the appropriateness of out-of-hours calls may contribute to patients' confusion about what is and is not appropriate and also to the apparent failure of patient education initiatives designed to decrease inappropriate demand.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

British Journal of General Practice

ISSN

0960-1643

Publisher

Royal College of General Practitioners

Issue

465

Volume

51

Page range

270-275

Department affiliated with

  • Primary Care and Public Health Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2008-10-13

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC