From all 75 patients who responded, only eight (10.66%) required to be brought back to clinic for further investigation or treatment of problems raised during the telephone follow-up.
In a subpopulation of contacts with patients having only one of the ten most frequent chronic conditions, we analysed how the GP weighted the chronic disease with regard to additional psychosocial problems raised during the contact, the time consumption and experienced workload of the contacts and their possible substitution by nurses.
The effect of EWRs may also be modified by the actions taken to correct or address safety problems raised by providers during the EWRs.
For each patient contact, the GPs were asked to fill in a one‒page registration form covering information on chronic disease, reason for encounter, diagnosis, number of additional psychosocial problems raised by the patient during the consultation, time consumption, experienced burden of the consultation, referral to specialized care, and whether a nurse could have substituted the GP.
Age group comparisons in frequency of contact, problems raised and intervention strategies used during the first six weeks of follow up indicate that older patients were similar to middle-aged patients in their level of engagement, problems faced and intervention strategies used.
Chewing gum during the workday was associated with higher productivity and fewer cognitive problems, raised cortisol levels in the morning, and did not affect heart rate.
GP-JW If work problems were raised during consultations, GPs tended to limit questions to the nature of the job and the functional difficulties patients experienced as a result.
However, there were more age group differences in problem domains raised during follow up contacts, with more middle-aged patients raising practical and existential concerns in addition to problems communicating with family/friends about their disease or treatment goals.
Many problem issues raised during these discussions were related to human relations with the community and at workplace: finding a balance between distance and proximity with community members, acknowledging social hierarchies while remaining equitable, controlling staff behaviour without crystallizing antagonisms from staff and/or community members.
As indicated in Table 6, the pattern of problems most frequently raised during follow up contacts was similar to the initial care conference, with symptom, practical, and psychological problems being most common.
Unfortunately the amendment was drafted and passed through parliament in rather a hurry, with very little time to correct problems that were raised during the consultation.
