Primary care team reorganisation after the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Differences between Catalonia and Spain in the PRICOV study.

BACKGROUND: Spanish primary care services are managed differently by each region's authorities. Catalonia started its services provision and design nearly two decades before other Spanish regions and developed nurses' roles and task shifting in primary care. PURPOSE: This work identifies differences in the Europe PRICOV-19 study answers between Catalonia and those submitted from the rest of Spain regarding how primary care teams (PCT) were organised during the SARS-CoV-2-2019 pandemic, how tasks and roles changed, and the pandemic's impact on the care providers. Initially, we computed bivariate relationships and tested using contingency association and unpaired Wilcoxon. ANALYSIS: Still, we estimated multiple linear regressions controlling with a list of individual and GP practice characteristics and clustering standard errors at the kind of location. RESULTS: Main statistically significant differences were found in the adaptation to the new tasks, the ability to solve most health problems, and specific accessibilities to primary care. In Catalonia, satisfaction with the adaptation to the new tasks was higher (41.9% satisfied and 30.2% neutral) than in the rest of Spain (50.9% dissatisfaction). Also, GPs in Catalonia reported to a greater extent than the rest of Spain that chronic patients were listed for extensive follow-up. These differences may be related to Catalonia's strategy for empowering primary care professionals other than family doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Considering future pandemics, demographic ageing, and professional shortages, we point out the potential benefits of these changes in PCT organisations and the need to review the centres's design.

Quality and safety actions in primary care practices in COVID-19 pandemic: the PRICOV-19 study in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Primary Health Care (PHC) has been key element in detection, monitoring and treatment of COVID-19 cases in Spain. We describe how PHC practices (PCPs) organized healthcare to guarantee quality and safety and, if there were differences among the 17 Spanish regions according to the COVID-19 prevalence. METHODS: Cross-sectional study through the PRICOV-19 European Online Survey in PCPs in Spain. The questionnaire included structure and process items per PCP. Data collection was due from January to May 2021. A descriptive and comparative analysis and a logistic regression model were performed to identify differences among regions by COVID-19 prevalence (low < 5% or high ≥5%). RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-six PCPs answered. 83.8% of PCPs were in high prevalence regions. Over 70% PCPs were multi-professional teams. PCPs attended mainly elderly (60.9%) and chronic patients (53.0%). Regarding structure indicators, no differences by prevalence detected. In 77.1% of PCPs administrative staff were more involved in providing recommendations. Only 53% of PCPs had a phone protocol although 73% of administrative staff participated in phone triage. High prevalence regions offered remote assessment (20.4% vs 2.3%, p 0.004) and online platforms to download administrative documents more frequently than low prevalence (30% vs 4.7%, p < 0.001). More backup staff members were hired by health authorities in high prevalence regions, especially nurses (63.9% vs 37.8%, p < 0.001. OR:4.20 (1.01-8.71)). 63.5% of PCPs provided proactive care for chronic patients. 41.0% of PCPs recognized that patients with serious conditions did not know to get an appointment. Urgent conditions suffered delayed care in 79.1% of PCPs in low prevalence compared to 65.9% in high prevalence regions (p 0.240). A 68% of PCPs agreed on having inadequate support from the government to provide proper functioning. 61% of high prevalence PCPs and 69.5% of low ones (p: 0.036) perceived as positive the role of governmental guidelines for management of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Spanish PCPs shared a basic standardized PCPs' structure and common clinical procedures due to the centralization of public health authority in the pandemic. Therefore, no relevant differences in safety and quality of care between regions with high and low prevalence were detected. Nurses and administrative staff were hired efficiently in response to the pandemic. Delay in care happened in patients with serious conditions and little follow-up for mental health and intimate partner violence affected patients was identified. Nevertheless, proactive care was offered for chronic patients in most of the PCPs.

[Primary health care teams management models according to the supplier and the effects on its dynamics in Catalonia]. / Modelos de gestión según el proveedor y sus efectos en la dinámica de los equipos de atención primaria en Cataluña.

OBJECTIVE: The catalan primary care (PC) management model is differentiated from the rest of regional autonomies because it has a greater diversity of providers The objective was to explore and compare management models according to the primary care provider in Catalonia based on the professionals' vision. METHODS: An online survey was carried out on February 1st 2017 to March 17th 2017 and structured in 6 sections that explored filiation, organization, accessibility, resolution, leadership and commitment. The analysis compares the answers grouped by entity providing Primary Health Care (PHC) services in Catalonia: Institut Català de la Salut (ICS), Public Consortium (CP), Public Consortium that also manages Hospital (CPH), Associative Base Entities (EBA) and Private Entities. The continuous variables were analyzed with the ANOVA test, and the categorical ones with chi-square or Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: T1474 responses were obtained, female gender was 78,1%, mean age was 48 years. 90% were doctors or nurses, 87% working in non-rural environments and 71% in ICS. The professionals of EBA declared greater ease (79.1%) and recognition (76.1%) for the development of professional skills, delay under 72h in scheduled appointments (83.9%) and increased self-management of agenda (87.5%). 54.2% of Public Consortium professionals (CP) and 55.4% of EBApresented high access to diagnostic tests and advanced nurse management of demand, 54.2% and 51.8%, respectively. It was highlighted a greater commitment, in entities with greater possibility of agenda self-management, a plan for training professional activities, objectives recognition, feedback on the activity results and EBA. CONCLUSIONS: The management models of PHC providers determine different characteristics. The most favourable answers to autonomous management, resolution, accessibility and commitment stand out in the EBA and CP professionals group who answered the survey.

OBJETIVO: El modelo catalán de gestión de atención primaria (AP), se diferencia del resto de autonomías por tener una mayor diversidad de proveedores. El objetivo fue explorar y comparar modelos de gestión según el proveedor de AP en Cataluña a partir de la visión de los profesionales. METODOS: Encuesta online realizada del 1 febrero al 17 mar- zo de 2017 estructurada en 6 secciones que exploraban filiación, organización, accesibilidad, resolución, liderazgo y compromiso. El análisis compara respuestas agrupadas por entidad proveedora de servicios de AP en Cataluña: Institut Català de la Salut (ICS), Consorcio Público (CP), Consorcio Público que gestiona también Hospital (CPH), Entidades de Base Asociativa (EBA) y Privado. Las variables continuas fueron analizadas con el test ANOVA, y las categóricas con ji al cuadrado o test exacto de Fisher. RESULTADOS: Se obtuvieron 1474 respuestas, del género femenino 78,1%, con 48 años de edad media. El 90% eran sanitarios, 87% en entornos no rurales y 71% ICS. Los profesionales de EBA declararon mayor facilidad (79,1%) y reconocimiento (76,1%) para el desarrollo de habilidades profesionales, menor demora en visita 72h (83,9%) y mayor posibilidad en autonomía de gestión de la agenda (87,5%). El 54,2% de profesionales de CP y el 55,4% de EBA presentaron alto acceso a pruebas diagnósticas y una avanzada gestión enfermera de la demanda, 54,2% y 51,8%, respectivamente. Destacó un mayor compromiso en entidades con mayor posibilidad de autonomía de gestión de la agenda, plan de formación de actividades de profesionales, reconocimiento de objetivos, feedback sobre resultados de actividades y en entidades EBA. CONCLUSIONES: Los modelos de gestión de los proveedores determinan características diferentes. Destacan respuestas más favorables en autonomía de gestión, resolución, accesibilidad y compromiso, de los profesionales de EBA y CP que respondieron el cuestionario.

[Evaluation of Nurse Demand Management in Primary Care]. / Evaluación de la gestión enfermera de la demanda en atención primaria.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the health outcomes of nurse demand management on unscheduled patients in a Primary Care Centre, following a clinical guide designed by the whole primary care team. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: A primary care team from Castelldefels. Barcelona, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 558 patients requesting a consultation for the same day in a Primary Care setting, attended between May 1st, 2011 and January 31st, 2012. INTERVENTION: The guide includes 23 health problems that can be dealt by a nurse autonomously, 18 of them possibly requiring an emergency intervention, and shared decision with the physician. Each health problem is divided into three sections: a) a brief definition of the problem; b) an intervention algorithm; and c) nursing diagnoses of North American Nursing Diagnosis Association for each health problem and a description of the possible nursing interventions. RESULTS: We studied 558 patients with a mean age of 42.5 years old (SD 17.7). The most commonly consulted problems were upper respiratory tract symptoms (19.4%), followed by nausea/vomiting (16.5%), and burns/wounds (12.5%). 73.3% of the problems were resolved autonomously by a nurse. 65,8% of the patients attended received health advice. DISCUSSION: Nurse demand management has shown to be highly effective at handling the conditions attended, while it provides a high percentage of health advice and education during consultations.

[An approach to acute diseases using a nursing practice guide]. / Abordaje de la demanda de visitas espontáneas de un equipo de atención primaria mediante una guía de intervenciones de enfermería.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health results of patients who make spontaneous visits when attended by nurses in a primary health care team and by applying a nursing practice guide. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: Primary health care team from the Barcelona metropolitan area, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who request a spontaneous visit for the same day in the primary health care centre (PHC). INTERVENTION: A nursing practice guide was prepared in which health problems were classified into 3 groups according to seriousness and possibility of being resolved by the nursing staff: a) group 1, problems where the protocols allowed that the nurse could finalise the process; b) group 2, problems that might require emergency action; and c) group 3, problems that required an assessment of the level of seriousness. When the patient arrived at the PHC requesting an urgent visit, and the problem fell into group 1 it was dealt with by a nurse. RESULTS: There were 202 patients with health problems included in group 1.The mean age was 36.3 years (SD, 18.6 years).The most consulted health problems were musculo-skeletal (32.7%), followed by skin (22.3%), and the digestive system (22.3%). Of those, 63.9% of the problems were completely resolved and only 5.9% required visits by the out of hours doctor. DISCUSSION: The nursing practice guide meant that the nurse became the entrance door to the primary care system, with a high possibility of resolving health problems.