Ethnography of 'Primary Care Sensitive' Ambulance Contacts
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Ethnographic Study of Patient and Carer Interactions with Ambulance Services for 'Primary Care Sensitive' Problems
IRAS ID
189123
Contact name
Matthew Booker
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Calls to ambulance services have been rising by over 7 per cent every year over the last decade, resulting in significant pressures on both ambulance services and emergency departments. Around half of calls to the ambulance service are for problems that do not require emergency or life-saving treatment, and do not result in the patient to be taken to hospital. Many of these calls could potentially be managed by primary care (GP) services, or other community-based services.
The reasons why people call emergency ambulances for such problems (so-termed “primary care sensitive” conditions) are complex and poorly understood. Research suggests that the decision to call an ambulance is not an impulsive ‘knee-jerk’ response, but may be shaped but a number of contextual factors including how the problem has developed, who might be around to help and how the condition has been treated previously. Certain groups of individuals (for example, those with carers or those in more socioeconomically deprived areas) might have a different approach to deciding how urgent their problem is. Without a detailed understanding of these important issues, it is difficult to design urgent care services that can promptly, safely and cost-effectively meet the needs of those using them.
This project will explore why people choose to access help from the ambulance services when they do not have a life-threatening health problem, by attempting to understand the ‘purpose’ of the ambulance service contact in their treatment journey. An ethnographic approach will be used to explore in-depth the events, circumstances and decision-making around the time of an ambulance call. Methods will include observation of and interviews with ambulance crews, interviews with patients and carers, analysis of documents relating to the treatment contact, and an analysis of the telephone call to the ambulance service.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SW/0307
Date of REC Opinion
27 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion