Exploring decision-making following attendance at unscheduled care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the presentation, experiences and patterns of decision-making that influence self-management following attendance at an unscheduled care consultation.
IRAS ID
169813
Contact name
Susanne Cruickshank
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Borders
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
When a GP surgery closes and a person needs healthcare advice or treatment, a number of options are available to them including online advice, primary care emergency services and the emergency department. NHS Borders is a rural health board covering a large geographical area that provides out of hours care through an Emergency Primary Care Centre situated within the Emergency department.
There are 17,000 face to face consultations annually including some home visits. Numbers have been steadily increasing and is a familiar picture across the UK. Factors which influence a patient’s decision to attend out of hours services and/or their decision to re-attend rather than use planned health care services is poorly understood, particularly in rural areas. In addition, it is unclear whether the consultation influences future confidence to manage new or similar symptoms. The research seeks to understand why someone attends, and how their attendance impacts on their future healthcare patterns of behaviour. It will use a mixed method approach: quantitative data will be gathered about the characteristics of the participants and through a questionnaire (diary) and qualitative interviews. Participants will be recruited through the Emergency Primary Care Centre following a consultation with a GP or Nurse. They will be asked to, firstly answer a series of questions about their consultation and secondly, keep a diary for 6 weeks of any future healthcare consultations they may have, the outcome and the impact on their confidence to manage their health. A sub-sample of participants will be asked to take part in an interview.
The quantitative data will be analysed using statistical software. Descriptive statistics will be used and patterns and relationships between different groups will be investigated.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0143
Date of REC Opinion
15 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion