ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2016
Calling the GP surgery: patient burden, patient satisfaction, and implications for training.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of the clinically oriented roles of a general practice receptionist: a systematic review with narrative synthesis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- The GP's a stranger: an interpretive phenomenological analysis exploring patient experiences of changed access to primary care in the management of long-term conditions.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- What do users want from rheumatology telephone advice lines? A cross-sectional survey with the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2025Article
- Understanding access to general practice through the lens of candidacy: a critical review of the literature.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Review
- Online Physician-Patient Interaction and Patient Satisfaction: Empirical Study of the Internet Hospital Service.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Conversations, and how we end them.Nature · 2021Article
- Urgent assessment and ongoing care for infection in community-dwelling older people: a qualitative study of patient experience.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Comparison of Access to Primary Care Medical and Dental Appointments Between Simulated Patients Who Were Deaf and Patients Who Could Hear.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- First point of contact physiotherapy; a qualitative study.Physiotherapy · 2020Article
- Satisfaction of 30 402 callers to a medical helpline of the Emergency Medical Services Copenhagen: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2019Article
- Technology-Enhanced Consultations in Diabetes, Cancer, and Heart Failure: Protocol for the Qualitative Analysis of Remote Consultations (QuARC) Project.JMIR research protocols · 2018Article
- Receptionists' role in new approaches to consultations in primary care: a focused ethnographic study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGood communication is central to the effectiveness of GP service provision, as well as to patient satisfaction with surgeries, but very little is known about the actual communication that occurs between patients and surgeries.
aimThis study was carried out to examine, for the first time, how receptionists interact with patients on the telephone, to identify features of communication associated with efficacy and patient satisfaction. DESIGN AND
settingA qualitative conversation analysis of incoming patient telephone calls, recorded 'for training purposes', in three English GP surgeries.
methodData were analysed qualitatively to identify effective communication, then coded to establish the relative prevalence of communication types across each surgery.
resultsAnalysis identified a burden on patients to drive calls forward and achieve service. 'Patient burden' occurred when receptionists failed to offer alternatives to patients whose initial requests could not be met, or to summarise relevant next actions (for example, appointment, call-back, or other query) at the end of calls. Coding revealed that 'patient burden' frequency differed across the services. Increased 'patient burden' was associated with decreased satisfaction on published satisfaction survey scores.
conclusionPatients in some practices have to push for effective service when calling GP surgeries. Conversation analysis specifies what constitutes (in)effective communication. Findings can then underpin receptionist training and improve patient experience and satisfaction.
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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.