Describing team development within a novel GP-led urgent care centre model: a qualitative study
File(s)
Published version
Accepted version
Author(s)
Morton, S
Igantowicz, A
Gnani, S
Majeed, A
Greenfield, G
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective: Urgent care centres (UCCs) co-located within an Emergency Department were developed to reduce the numbers of inappropriate emergency department admissions. Since then various UCC
models have developed, including a novel general practitioner (GP)-led UCC that incorporates both
GPs and Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs). Traditionally these two groups do not work
alongside each other within an emergency setting. Although good teamwork is crucial to better patient outcomes, there is little within the literature about the development of a team consisting of different healthcare professionals in a novel healthcare setting. Our aim was therefore to describe staff members’ perspectives of team development within the GP-led UCC model.
Design: Open-ended semi-structured interviews, analysed using thematic content analysis.
Setting: GP-led urgent care centres in two academic teaching hospitals in London.
Participants: Fifteen UCC staff members including six GPs, four ENPs, two receptionists and three
managers.
Results: Overall participants were positive about the inter-professional team that had developed
and recognised that this process had taken time. Hierarchy within the UCC setting has diminished
with time, although some residual hierarchical beliefs do appear to remain. Staff appreciated interdisciplinary
collaboration was likely to improve patient care. Eight key facilitating factors for the
team were identified: appointment of leaders, perception of fair workload, education on roles/skill
sets and development of these, shared professional understanding, inter-disciplinary working, ED
collaboration, clinical guidelines and social interactions.
Conclusions: A strong inter-professional team has evolved within the GP-led UCCs over time,
breaking down traditional professional divides. Future implementation of UCC models should proactively
incorporate the eight facilitating factors identified from the outset, to enable effective
teams to develop more quickly.
models have developed, including a novel general practitioner (GP)-led UCC that incorporates both
GPs and Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs). Traditionally these two groups do not work
alongside each other within an emergency setting. Although good teamwork is crucial to better patient outcomes, there is little within the literature about the development of a team consisting of different healthcare professionals in a novel healthcare setting. Our aim was therefore to describe staff members’ perspectives of team development within the GP-led UCC model.
Design: Open-ended semi-structured interviews, analysed using thematic content analysis.
Setting: GP-led urgent care centres in two academic teaching hospitals in London.
Participants: Fifteen UCC staff members including six GPs, four ENPs, two receptionists and three
managers.
Results: Overall participants were positive about the inter-professional team that had developed
and recognised that this process had taken time. Hierarchy within the UCC setting has diminished
with time, although some residual hierarchical beliefs do appear to remain. Staff appreciated interdisciplinary
collaboration was likely to improve patient care. Eight key facilitating factors for the
team were identified: appointment of leaders, perception of fair workload, education on roles/skill
sets and development of these, shared professional understanding, inter-disciplinary working, ED
collaboration, clinical guidelines and social interactions.
Conclusions: A strong inter-professional team has evolved within the GP-led UCCs over time,
breaking down traditional professional divides. Future implementation of UCC models should proactively
incorporate the eight facilitating factors identified from the outset, to enable effective
teams to develop more quickly.
Date Issued
2016-06-23
Date Acceptance
2016-03-11
Citation
BMJ Open, 2016, 6
ISSN
2044-6055
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Open
Volume
6
Copyright Statement
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with
the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license
the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license
License URL
Subjects
Hierarchy
Interviews
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Team development
Urgent care centre
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e010224