ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2009
Telephone consulting in primary care: a triangulated qualitative study of patients and providers.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 143 citations in OpenAlex.
- General practitioners' experience about synchronous teleconsultation in primary care: a mixed-method systematic review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Patients' perspective about synchronous teleconsultation with a general practitioner: a mixed-method systematic literature review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of remote care approaches on continuity in primary care: a mixed-studies systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Pooled it
- The impact of eHealth on the quality and safety of health care: a systematic overview.PLoS medicine · 2011Pooled it
- Safety-netting communication during telephone consultations: an observational study using recorded consultations.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Observational
- Nurse-Led Telephone Triage in Contemporary Healthcare: Bridging the Gap Between Patient Need and Resource Allocation.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Benefits and outcomes of implementing virtual health clinics in remote and underserved areas: a scoping review.International journal of technology assessment in health care · 2025Article
- Impact of Modern Communication in Transforming Dental Care.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- The Dynamics of Doctor-Patient Communication During Remote Consultations: Qualitative Study Among Norwegian Contract General Practitioners.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- The Impact and Wider Implications of Remote Consultations for General Practice in Norway: Qualitative Study Among Norwegian Contract General Practitioners.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Unscheduled home consultations by registered nurses may reduce acute clinic visits.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- General practitioner preferences for telehealth consultations in Australia: a pilot survey and discrete choice experiment.Primary health care research & development · 2024Article
- Patients with severe mental illness and their carers' expectations for GPs' communication skills: a qualitative approach in Spain.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Maintaining essential health services during COVID-19 in Ghana: a qualitative study.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Patients' Intentions to Use Telemedicine for Ophthalmic Medical Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Cureus · 2024Article
- Nursing teleconsultation in primary health care: scoping review.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2024Article
- Telemedicine in the post-COVID era: balancing accessibility, equity, and sustainability in primary healthcare.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
- Article
- Perceptions of and Preferences for Telemedicine Use Since the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients and Physicians.JMIR human factors · 2023Article
- Telemedicine in Neuro-Oncology-An Evaluation of Remote Consultations during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Cancers · 2023Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInternationally, there is increasing use of telephone consultations, particularly for triaging requests for acute care. However, little is known about how this mode of consulting differs from face-to-face encounters.
aimTo understand patient and healthcare-staff perspectives on how telephone consulting differs from face-to-face consulting in terms of content, quality, and safety, and how it can be most appropriately incorporated into routine health care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Focus groups triangulated by a national questionnaire.
settingPrimary care in urban and rural Scotland.
methodFifteen focus groups (n = 91) were conducted with GPs, nurses, administrative staff, and patients, purposively sampled to attain a maximum-variation sample. Findings were triangulated by a national questionnaire.
resultsTelephone consulting evolved in urban areas mainly to manage demand, while in rural areas it developed to overcome geographical problems and maintain continuity of care for patients. While telephone consulting was generally seen to provide improved access, clinicians expressed strong concerns about safety potentially being compromised, largely as a result of lack of formal and informal examination. Concerns were, to an extent, allayed when clinicians and patients knew each other well.
conclusionUsed appropriately, telephone consulting enhances access to health care, aids continuity, and saves time and travelling for patients. The current emphasis on use for acute triage, however, worried clinicians and patients. Given these findings, and until the safe use of telephone triage is fully understood and agreed upon by stakeholders, policymakers and clinicians should consider using the telephone primarily for managing follow-up appointments when diagnostic assessment has already been undertaken.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.