Safety Culture and the Positive Association of Being a Primary Care Training Practice during COVID-19: The Results of the Multi-Country European PRICOV-19 Study.

The day-to-day work of primary care (PC) was substantially changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching practices needed to adapt both clinical work and teaching in a way that enabled the teaching process to continue, while maintaining safe and high-quality care. Our study aims to investigate the effect of being a training practice on a number of different outcomes related to the safety culture of PC practices. PRICOV-19 is a multi-country cross-sectional study that researches how PC practices were organized in 38 countries during the pandemic. Data was collected from November 2020 to December 2021. We categorized practices into training and non-training and selected outcomes relating to safety culture: safe practice management, community outreach, professional well-being and adherence to protocols. Mixed-effects regression models were built to analyze the effect of being a training practice for each of the outcomes, while controlling for relevant confounders. Of the participating practices, 2886 (56%) were non-training practices and 2272 (44%) were training practices. Being a training practice was significantly associated with a lower risk for adverse mental health events (OR: 0.83; CI: 0.70–0.99), a higher number of safety measures related to patient flow (Beta: 0.17; CI: 0.07–0.28), a higher number of safety incidents reported (RR: 1.12; CI: 1.06–1.19) and more protected time for meetings (Beta: 0.08; CI: 0.01–0.15). No significant associations were found for outreach initiatives, availability of triage information, use of a phone protocol or infection prevention measures and equipment availability. Training practices were found to have a stronger safety culture than non-training practices. These results have important policy implications, since involving more PC practices in education may be an effective way to improve quality and safety in general practice

Safety Culture and the Positive Association of Being a Primary Care Training Practice during COVID-19: The Results of the Multi-Country European PRICOV-19 Study

The day-to-day work of primary care (PC) was substantially changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching practices needed to adapt both clinical work and teaching in a way that enabled the teaching process to continue, while maintaining safe and high-quality care. Our study aims to investigate the effect of being a training practice on a number of different outcomes related to the safety culture of PC practices. PRICOV-19 is a multi-country cross-sectional study that researches how PC practices were organized in 38 countries during the pandemic. Data was collected from November 2020 to December 2021. We categorized practices into training and non-training and selected outcomes relating to safety culture: safe practice management, community outreach, professional well-being and adherence to protocols. Mixed-effects regression models were built to analyze the effect of being a training practice for each of the outcomes, while controlling for relevant confounders. Of the participating practices, 2886 (56%) were non-training practices and 2272 (44%) were training practices. Being a training practice was significantly associated with a lower risk for adverse mental health events (OR: 0.83; CI: 0.70–0.99), a higher number of safety measures related to patient flow (Beta: 0.17; CI: 0.07–0.28), a higher number of safety incidents reported (RR: 1.12; CI: 1.06–1.19) and more protected time for meetings (Beta: 0.08; CI: 0.01–0.15). No significant associations were found for outreach initiatives, availability of triage information, use of a phone protocol or infection prevention measures and equipment availability. Training practices were found to have a stronger safety culture than non-training practices. These results have important policy implications, since involving more PC practices in education may be an effective way to improve quality and safety in general practice

Safety culture and the positive association of being a primary care training practice during COVID-19 : the results of the multi-country European PRICOV-19 study

The day-to-day work of primary care (PC) was substantially changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching practices needed to adapt both clinical work and teaching in a way that enabled the teaching process to continue, while maintaining safe and high-quality care. Our study aims to investigate the effect of being a training practice on a number of different outcomes related to the safety culture of PC practices. PRICOV-19 is a multi-country cross-sectional study that researches how PC practices were organized in 38 countries during the pandemic. Data was collected from November 2020 to December 2021. We categorized practices into training and non-training and selected outcomes relating to safety culture: safe practice management, community outreach, professional well-being and adherence to protocols. Mixed-effects regression models were built to analyze the effect of being a training practice for each of the outcomes, while controlling for relevant confounders. Of the participating practices, 2886 (56%) were non-training practices and 2272 (44%) were training practices. Being a training practice was significantly associated with a lower risk for adverse mental health events (OR: 0.83; CI: 0.70-0.99), a higher number of safety measures related to patient flow (Beta: 0.17; CI: 0.07-0.28), a higher number of safety incidents reported (RR: 1.12; CI: 1.06-1.19) and more protected time for meetings (Beta: 0.08; CI: 0.01-0.15). No significant associations were found for outreach initiatives, availability of triage information, use of a phone protocol or infection prevention measures and equipment availability. Training practices were found to have a stronger safety culture than non-training practices. These results have important policy implications, since involving more PC practices in education may be an effective way to improve quality and safety in general practice

Insights from Primary Care Practice during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Informing the Development of an EQuiP Position Statement for Advancing the Health Sector

The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge challenge for primary care (PC), its organisation and processes, the people working there and its interfaces with the wider healthcare system. The fight against COVID-19 has emphasised the critical role of PC: to serve as the first, and for most patients, the only point of contact with healthcare professionals during a pandemic surge. Mid-2020, an international research consortium led by Ghent University set up the PRICOV-19 study to research how PC practices in 37 European countries and Israel were organised during the COVID-19 pandemic to guarantee safe, efficient, effective, patient-centred, and equitable care. Also, the shift in roles and tasks and the wellbeing of staff members were researched. PRICOV-19 also aimed to study the association with practice- and healthcare system characteristics. In total, more than 5,000 PC practices filled in an online survey, making PRICOV-19 the largest and most comprehensive study on this topic ever done in Europe. The findings derived from PRICOV-19 have the potential to guide policymakers, politicians, national primary care colleges, and institutes tasked with training future General Practitioners (GPs) in enhancing the preparedness of primary care systems throughout Europe for the post-COVID-19 era, as well as for any future outbreaks of infectious diseases. The insights generated from this study can also be utilized to bolster primary care systems in mitigating the deleterious health effects of COVID-19 (or other future epidemics), easing the strain on hospitals, and supporting the implementation of effective vaccination and public health measures. It is worth noting that strengthening primary care is increasingly important given the mounting challenges posed by factors such as population ageing, the increasing burden of chronic diseases, and persistent societal inequities. Method: Presentation of the draft EQuiP position statement Interactive discussion about the different statements in the document: When the number of participants allows, the group will be divided into smaller groups, each focusing on one or two statements including the following themes: • The infrastructure, workforce and research • The role of telemedicine and digitalisation • The cooperation and communication between public health and primary care • The provision of equitable care and collaboration to deliver integrated care • The safety of care delivered • The well-being of the health workforce • Training of doctors and students within the practice Plenary reporting of the discussion in the small groups Formulating amendments to the text Ideally, the workshop should be scheduled in the morning to allow the primary authors to make any necessary revisions in the hours immediately following the session. Later in the afternoon, the updated text will be presented to all attending EQuiP members, and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that the document is approved as an official EQuiP position statement. Aim: The objective of this workshop is to foster consensus among the current members of EQuiP regarding the insights gained from the PRICOV-19 data, specifically in relation to the organization and quality of primary care, and to develop recommendations for enhancing future preparedness in this field. By facilitating this discussion, the workshop aims to make a meaningful contribution to the ongoing refinement of the existing draft version of the EQuiP position statement. Ultimately, the insights and recommendations generated through this workshop will be instrumental in securing the statement's final approval and acceptance by conference attendees