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

Abstract

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.

Keywords: media analysis; patient care; patient safety; primary health care; remote consultation.