ArticleFamily practice2011
Exploring patients' self-reported experiences of out-of-hours primary care and their suggestions for improvement: a qualitative study.
Article in Family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Giving callers the option to bypass the telephone waiting line in out-of-hours services: a comparative intervention study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2019Trial
- Development and evaluation of an "emergency access button" in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.BMC health services research · 2017Trial
- Challenges of a community based pragmatic, randomised controlled trial of weight loss maintenance.BMC research notes · 2015Trial
- Communication during out-of-hours primary care contacts for people with a terminal illness: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Co-location of out of hours primary care and emergency department in Belgium: patients' and physicians' view.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Out of hours care in Germany - High utilization by adult patients with minor ailments?BMC family practice · 2017Article
- A Qualitative Evaluation of an Online Expert-Facilitated Course on Tobacco Dependence Treatment.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing · 2017Article
- The use of patient experience survey data by out-of-hours primary care services: a qualitative interview study.BMJ quality & safety · 2016Article
- An analytic observational study on complaints management in the general practice out of hours care setting: who complains, why, and what can we do about it?BMC family practice · 2016Observational
- Investigating the public's use of Scotland's primary care telephone advice service (NHS 24): a population-based cross-sectional study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveOut-of-hours services for primary care provision are increasing in policy relevance. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore service users' recent experiences of out-of-hours services and to identify suggestions for improvement for services and practitioners involved.
methodsWe used data from a cross-sectional survey of service users' self-reported experiences of 13 out-of-hours centres in Wales. Three hundred and forty-one respondents provided free-text comments focusing on suggestions for improvement within the survey instrument (the Out-of-hours Patient Questionnaire). A coding framework was based on previous literature focusing on patients' experiences of out-of-hours services, built upon and refined as it was systematically applied to the data. Emergent themes and subthemes were charted and interpreted to comprise the findings.
resultsCentral themes emerged from users' perspectives of the structure of out-of-hours services, process of care and outcomes for users. Themes included long waiting times, perceived quality of service user-practitioner communication, consideration for parents and children and accessibility of the service and medication. Suggestions for improving care were made across these themes, including triaging patients more effectively and efficiently, addressing specific aspects of practitioners' communication with patients, reconsidering the size of areas covered by services and number of professionals required for the population covered, extending GP and pharmacy opening times and medication delivery services.
conclusionsIt is important to consider ways to address service users' principal concerns surrounding out-of-hours services. Debate is required about prioritizing and implementing potential improvements to out-of-hours services in the light of resource constraints.
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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.