Observational studyThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2019
Safety netting in routine primary care consultations: an observational study using video-recorded UK consultations.
Observational study in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient-facing online triage tools and clinician decision-making: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Exploration of Physiotherapists' Understanding and Application of Safety Netting Procedures in France-A Qualitative Study.Musculoskeletal care · 2026Article
- 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
- Safety netting in primary care: managing the low incidence, high uncertainty of severe illness.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Safety-netting advice documentation in out-of-hours primary care: a retrospective cohort from 2013 to 2020.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional study of healthcare professionals' estimates of the health numeracy of inpatients and outpatients in a UK secondary care setting.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Role of communicating diagnostic uncertainty in the safety-netting process: insights from a vignette study.BMJ quality & safety · 2024Article
- Tailoring communication practices to support effective delivery of telehealth in general practice.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Ideas, concerns, expectations, and effects on life (ICEE) in GP consultations: an observational study using video-recorded UK consultations.BJGP open · 2023Article
- Electronic safety-netting tool features considered important by UK general practice staff: an interview and Delphi consensus study.BJGP open · 2023Article
- SAFETY NETTING CONCEPT IN PRIMARY CARE CONSULTATION.Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine · 2023Article
- Antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection in children presenting in primary care: ARTIC-PC RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2023Article
- Safety netting advice for respiratory tract infections in out-of-hours primary care: A qualitative analysis of consultation videos.The European journal of general practice · 2022Article
- Harnessing the Electronic Health Care Record to Optimize Patient Safety in Primary Care: Framework for Evaluating e-Safety-Netting Tools.JMIR medical informatics · 2022Article
- Optimising GPs' communication of advice to facilitate patients' self-care and prompt follow-up when the diagnosis is uncertain: a realist review of 'safety-netting' in primary care.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Review
- Factors affecting the documentation of spoken safety-netting advice in routine GP consultations: a cross-sectional study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Parent and Clinician Views of Managing Children with Symptoms of a Lower Respiratory Tract Infection and Their Influence upon Decisions to Take Part in a Placebo-Controlled Randomised Control Trial.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The content and conduct of GP consultations for dermatology problems: a cross-sectional study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- Development of a tool for coding safety-netting behaviours in primary care: a mixed-methods study using existing UK consultation recordings.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Quality improvements of safety-netting guidelines for cancer in UK primary care: insights from a qualitative interview study of GPs.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSafety-netting advice is information shared with a patient or their carer designed to help them identify the need to seek further medical help if their condition fails to improve, changes, or if they have concerns about their health.
aimTo assess when and how safety-netting advice is delivered in routine GP consultations. DESIGN AND
settingThis was an observational study using 318 recorded GP consultations with adult patients in the UK.
methodA safety-netting coding tool was applied to all consultations. Logistic regression for the presence or absence of safety-netting advice was compared between patient, clinician, and problem variables.
resultsA total of 390 episodes of safety-netting advice were observed in 205/318 (64.5%) consultations for 257/555 (46.3%) problems. Most advice was initiated by the GP (94.9%) and delivered in the treatment planning (52.1%) or closing (31.5%) consultation phases. Specific advice was delivered in almost half (47.2%) of episodes. Safety-netting advice was more likely to be present for problems that were acute (odds ratio [OR] 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.30 to 3.64), assessed first in the consultation (OR 2.94, 95% CI = 1.85 to 4.68) or assessed by GPs aged ≤49 years (OR 2.56, 95% CI = 1.45 to 4.51). Safety-netting advice was documented for only 109/242 (45.0%) problems.
conclusionGPs appear to commonly give safety-netting advice, but the contingencies or actions required on the patient's part may not always be specific or documented. The likelihood of safety-netting advice being delivered may vary according to characteristics of the problem or the GP. How to assess safety-netting outcomes in terms of patient benefits and harms does warrant further exploration.
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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.