Media depictions of primary care teleconsultation safety: a thematic analysis of UK newspapers

Journal article

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the widespread roll-out of teleconsultations across primary care services in the UK. The media's depiction of remote consultations, especially regarding their safety, is not well established. These insights are important: newspapers' coverage of healthcare-related news can influence public perception, national policy, and clinicians' job satisfaction. AIM: To explore how the national newspapers in the UK depicted both the direct and indirect consequences of the remote-first approach on patient safety. DESIGN AND SETTING: We performed thematic analysis of newspaper articles that discussed patient safety in primary care teleconsultations, which were published between 21 January 2021 and 22 April 2022. METHOD: We identified relevant articles using the LexisNexis Academic UK database. We categorised data from these articles into codes before developing these into emergent themes through an iterative process. RESULTS: Across the 57 articles identified, the main safety concern identified was missed and/or delayed diagnoses over tele-appointment(s), while isolated cases of inappropriate prescribing were also reported. The media reported that the transition to a remote-first approach reduced the accessibility to primary care appointments for some groups (especially patients with lower digital literacy or access) and heightened the burden on other healthcare services; in particular, there were reports of patient care being compromised across NHS emergency departments. CONCLUSION: The print media predominantly reported negative impacts of remote consultations on patient safety, particularly involving missed and/ or delayed diagnoses. Our work highlights the importance of further exploration into the safety of remote consultations, and the impact of erroneous media reporting on policies and policymakers.

Authors: Song, K; Hey, M; Payne, R

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners
• Journal: British Journal of General Practice
• Volume: 74
• Issue: 747
• Pages: e695-e701
• Publication date: 2024-04-15
• Acceptance date: 2024-03-04
• DOI: 10.3399/bjgp.2023.0543
• EISSN: 1478-5242
• ISSN: 0960-1643
• Language: English
• Keywords: Computer science; Advertising; Political science; Data science; Medical emergency; Newspaper; Primary care; Family medicine; Thematic map; Patient safety; Primary health care; Thematic analysis; Health care; Environmental health; Qualitative research; World Wide Web; Medicine