ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2024
A paradox of problems in accessing general practice: a qualitative participatory case study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Barriers and facilitators of accessing primary healthcare for patients with severe mental illness: a mixed-methods systematic review using framework synthesis.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- 'The GP's offices are far away and the gain would be great.'-A qualitative study on nursing home staff's perspectives on digital solutions for communication issues with general practitioners.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Facilitating access to mental healthcare for patients with long-term conditions in general practice: a qualitative collective case study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Article
- Remote Access to Primary Care: Theorising 'Care Navigation'.Sociology of health & illness · 2026Article
- English general practice in a period of change: a mixed-methods study of staff and patient perspectives.BJGP open · 2026Article
- Skill mix in primary care, working hours, time used on management, and burnout among general practitioners.Family practice · 2025Article
- Seven ways to optimise prevention in general practice and family medicine - a EUROPREV position paper to spark debate on prevention.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- Complexity, demand, and those little white spots.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Article
- Implementation evaluation of a pharmacist prescribing service for the management of dermatological conditions: a study protocol.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Has the new GP contract in Scotland reduced health inequalities? Qualitative evaluation of the views of general practitioners working in deprived areas.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Exploring user experiences in a novel primary care center: a qualitative grounded theory study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Delivering relational continuity of care in light of recent GP contract changes.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Access to general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Exploring rural Scottish GPs' migration decisions: a secondary qualitative analysis considering burnout.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Role of receptionists in general practice: under-researched and under-valued.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Article
- Exploring the barriers to cervical screening and perspectives on new self-sampling methods amongst under-served groups.BMC health services research · 2025Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite longstanding problems of access to general practice, attempts to understand and address the issues do not adequately include perspectives of the people providing or using care, nor do they use established theories of access to understand complexity.
aimTo understand problems of access to general practice from the multiple perspectives of service users and staff using an applied theory of access. DESIGN AND
settingA qualitative participatory case study in an area of northwest England.
methodA community-based participatory approach was used with qualitative interviews, focus groups, and observation to understand perspectives about accessing general practice. Data were collected between October 2015 and October 2016. Inductive and abductive analysis, informed by Levesque
resultsThis study presents a paradox of problems in accessing general practice, in which the demand on general practice both creates and hides unmet need in the population. Data show how reactive rules to control demand have undermined important aspects of care, such as continuity. The layers of rules and decreased continuity create extra work for practice staff, clinicians, and patients. Complicated rules, combined with a lack of capacity to reach out or be flexible, leave many patients, including those with complex and/or unrecognised health needs, unable to navigate the system to access care. This relationship between demand and unmet need exacerbates existing health inequities.
conclusionUnderstanding the paradox of access problems allows for different targets for change and different solutions to free up capacity in general practice to address the unmet need in the population.
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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.