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Experiences of GP trainees in undertaking telephone consultations: a mixed-methods study.
Chaudhry, Umar; Ibison, Judith; Harris, Tess; Rafi, Imran; Johnston, Miles; Fawns, Tim.
Affiliation
  • Chaudhry U; Clinical Teaching Fellow, Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), St George's University of London (SGUL), London, UK uchaudhr@sgul.ac.uk.
  • Ibison J; Reader in Primary Care, Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education (IMBE), St George's University of London (SGUL), London, UK.
  • Harris T; Professor of Primary Care Research, Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), St George's University of London (SGUL), London, UK.
  • Rafi I; Senior Lecturer in Primary Care Education, Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education (IMBE), St George's University of London (SGUL), London, UK.
  • Johnston M; General Practitioner, Parliament Hill Medical Centre, London, UK.
  • Fawns T; Lecturer in Clinical Education, Medical Education Department, Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
BJGP Open ; 4(1)2020.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32019774
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Primary care telephone consultations are increasingly used for patient triage, reviews, and providing clinical information. They are also a key postgraduate training component yet little is known about GP trainees' preparation for, or experiences and perceptions of, them.

AIM:

To understand the experiences, perceptions, and training of GP trainees in conducting telephone consultations. DESIGN &

SETTING:

A mixed-methods study was undertaken of North Central and East London (NCEL) GP trainees.

METHOD:

A cross-sectional electronic survey of trainees was performed with subsequent semi-structured interviews. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data using thematic analysis.

RESULTS:

The survey response was 16% (n = 100/618), and 10 participated in semi-structured interviews. Trainees felt least confident with complicated telephone consulting, and there was a strong positive correlation between the percentage reporting having received training and their confidence (R 2 = 0.71, P<0.0001). Positive experiences included managing workload and convenience. Negative experiences included complex encounters, communication barriers, and absence of examination. Trainees reported that training for telephone consultations needed strengthening, and that recently introduced audio-clinical observation tools (COTs) were useful. Positive correlations were found between the length of out-of-hours (OOH) but not in-hours training and the level of supervision or feedback received for telephone consultations.

CONCLUSION:

This project sheds light on GP trainees' current experiences of telephone consultations and the need to enhance future training. The findings will inform a wider debate among stakeholders and postgraduate learners regarding training for telephone consultations, and potentially for other remote technologies.
Key words

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Qualitative_research Language: En Journal: BJGP Open Year: 2020 Document type: Article Affiliation country: United kingdom

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Qualitative_research Language: En Journal: BJGP Open Year: 2020 Document type: Article Affiliation country: United kingdom