The European journal of general practice
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Task shifting is an approach to help address the shortage of healthcare workers through reallocating human resources but its impact on primary care is unclear. ⋯ Evidence suggests that allied healthcare workers such as pharmacists and nurses can potentially undertake substantially expanded roles to support physicians in primary care in response to the changing health service demand. Tasks include providing care to patients, independent prescribing, counselling and education, with comparable quality of care.
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Most COVID-19 patients experience a mild course of the disease and can be managed in general practice. However, in the early pandemic, most research was conducted in secondary care. ⋯ Although general practitioners in most countries must have been involved in managing patients with COVID-19, little research has been published from general practice during the first year of the pandemic. General practice research environments must be able to respond quickly in case of future pandemics.
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Broadening the skill-mix in general practice is advocated to build resilience into the primary care workforce. However, there is little understanding of how extended-scope practitioners from different disciplines, such as paramedicine and nursing, embed into roles traditionally ascribed to general practitioners (GPs). ⋯ Broadening the skill-mix to incorporate extended-scope practitioners such as ECPs, to deliver primary care home visiting, presents an opportunity to increase resilience in the general practice workforce.
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Understanding health-seeking behaviour could significantly reduce the impact of illness on patients' lives. Fragmentation of the Lebanese healthcare system and presence of variability in socio-economic factors have affected some aspects of the Lebanese population's overall health seeking behaviour. One of these aspects is seeking diagnosis from pharmacists, which is prohibited by the Lebanese law but reinforced by the absence of supervision of concerned authorities. ⋯ Our study showed that a significant proportion of the Lebanese population seek a diagnosis from pharmacists and a significant proportion of them have a misconception about the role of pharmacists in the Lebanese healthcare system.
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General practitioners (GPs) encounter women suffering from premenstrual symptoms. Often women with premenstrual problems experience little understanding from GPs. Views of GPs will influence their approach to these women and their care. Insight into these views is lacking but could help in designing educational programmes for GPs. ⋯ GPs considered physiological changes and personal sensitivity as aetiological factors. We recommend more training to improve GPs knowledge and more insight into the burden of women with PMS. A symptom diary is an essential diagnostic tool for GPs.