Different primary care for different patients – how should we balance continuity and urgent access?

Aim

The study aims to speak with patients and doctors to understand their ideas about how we can best balance seeing the same doctor repeatedly and getting a quick appointment.

Background

Previous research has shown that seeing the same doctor in a general practice is associated with a wide range of benefits for patients. These include increased satisfaction for patients and less chance of patients being admitted to hospital or dying. Some research shows that certain types of patients (such as those with lots of medical problems) may get more benefit from seeing the same doctor than others. Over the last few years, the number of patients seeing the same doctor has gone down. General practices find it hard to provide appointments for patients with the same doctor without making patients wait for a longer time. One way to improve this would be to give some patients an appointment with the same doctor and give other patients appointments with any doctor.

Research questions

• Do some patients benefit more from seeing the same doctor?
• Has a system where some patients see the same doctor and others do not been tried anywhere before?
• What do patients and doctors think about having a system where some patients see the same doctor and others do not?

Design and Methods

Phase 1: Do some patients benefit more from seeing the same doctor? We will search for other research that has been done and analyse it to answer this question. Has a system where some patients see the same doctor and some do not been tried anywhere before? We will search for information about what different systems of seeing a doctor have been tried. We will contact experts around the world to see what systems have been tried in other countries. We will bring together the information we find so we can learn from others’ experiences.

Phase 2: What do patients and doctors think about having a system where some patients see the same doctor and others do not? We will speak to patients and doctors about having a system where some patients see the same doctor and others do not. We will use what we have learnt from phase 1 of the research to help make the questions we will ask.

Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement

Members of the public were involved in a discussion about the need for this type of research and they helped create these research questions. We will have a group of patients working with us during the research. They will help create the questions we will ask patients in phase 2 of the project and help us understand the results.

Dissemination

Findings will be presented in academic journals, conferences and shared with health policymakers.