‘Total Change?’: Exploring the use and experience of total triage V1.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
‘Total Change?’: Exploring the use and experience of total triage and remote consultations
IRAS ID
306164
Contact name
Sudeh Cheraghi-Sohi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
During COVID-19, when we have tried to book a GP appointment, we have all had to go through a system, called a ‘triage’ system, that decides how we are seen and who we are seen by. Decisions as to who got an appointment, when and what type of appointment (face-to-face, telephone or video-call) were made either by receptionists, Nurse Practitioners and/or GPs. These decisions were made either over the phone or alternatively by patients, (or their carers), filling in a form online.
Past research has shown that patients from ethnic minority backgrounds have faced inequality when accessing healthcare services. We want to explore how people from such backgrounds have experienced accessing care in general practice during total triage and whether they have experienced any issues more, or different to, those reported for the general population. General Practice staff have also had to get used to these new ways of working and there is little understanding of how GP staff are making triage decisions under total triage, or how doing most of your work by telephone for example, might affect their feelings towards their work, how they are working with the potential for impact(s) on patient safety of particular concern.
Aims
Using qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews and focus groups), this study aims to find about patient and General Practice staff routine use of total triage systems. In particular:
1) How GP staff have implemented total triage
2) How patients are being triaged under total triage and why
3) What the advantages and disadvantages of using total triage are for South Asian patients and General Practice staff with including any perceived impact on patient safety.The study is funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care research (2021-2026-519). We will work with the Greater Manchester Clinical Research Network to recruit general practices and staff participants.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
22/ES/0011
Date of REC Opinion
24 Mar 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion