Table 1. Summary of included studies.
| Author, Year | Journal | Location | Population | Aim/ Topic | Study Design | Major Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archer, S et al. (2021) [41] |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | 23 GPs | Impact of COVID on cancer assessment in primary care | Qualitative interview | - Inability to assess subtle symptoms online - Reported more risk taking in care |
| Byrce, C et al. (2021) [42] |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | 2789 Patients | Tele-access to GP | Self-administered survey | Strong association between tele-knowledge and usage |
| Danhieux, K et al. (2020) [32] |
BMC Family Practice | Belgium | 16 Primary Care Centres | Provision of chronic care | Qualitative study | Attitudes + concerns of GP |
| Due, T.D (2021) [23] |
BMC Family Practice | Denmark | 13 GPs | GP use of alternative consult | Qualitative interviews | Found telemedicine useful |
| Duncan, LJ et al. (2021) [28] |
F1000 Research | UK | 150 patients | Perception of NHS general practice during pandemic | 2 online surveys | Varied result–finely split. Opinion differs re. access, quality |
| Eisele, M et al. (2021) [27] |
Frontiers in Medicine (Lausanne) | Germany | 121 GPs | Examine general challenges faced by GPs during pandemic | Open questions survey | GP payment (no financial worry) |
| Florea M et al. (2021) [33] |
Int. J. General Medicine | Romania | 108 GPs | Perception of Telemedicine | Cross section study | GPs received positive feedback from patients on telemedicine |
| Johnsen et al. (2021) [35] |
Journal of Medical Internet Research | Norway | 1237 GPs | Document GPs experience of video consultations during pandemic | Cross-sectional survey | GPs lacked prior experience of VC Consultation suitability greatly varied across patient groups GPs estimate 20% of future work will be conducted online |
| Kurotschka, P et al. (2021) [31] |
Frontiers in Public Health | Italy | 149 GPs | To explore Italian GPs care experience during 1st wave of COVID-19 | Critical incident technique study | GPs satisfied with remote consultation Despite not having physical sign/ presence, GPs found that verbal communication became more effective to suffice this |
| López Seguí, F et al. (2020) [43] |
Journal of Medical Internet Research | Spain | 5382 Consultations 20 GPs |
Evaluate whether a consultation is best suited to teleconsult/ in-person | Retrospective cross-sectional study | Teleconsultations conducted most often were: managing test results, repeat prescriptions, general medical enquiries |
| Murphy, M et al. (2021) [26] |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | 87 Staff 350000 Patients reg. |
Practitioner Perspective | Mixed-methods Longitudinal study Normalisation Process theory |
Universal consensus re. necessity |
| Parker, R et al. (2021) [44] |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | 13 studies | Explore impact of remote consult in general practice across socioeconomic groups | Systematic review | Remote consult more likely to be used by younger, non-immigrant, employed, female patients while online consult will be greater used by young affluent and educated groups |
| Saigí-Rubió, F et al. (2021) [29] |
Journal of Medical Internet Research | Spain | 1189 Healthcare professionals | Study determinants to use e-consult platform | Qualitative/ Quantitative questionnaire | Discover determining factors |
| Saint-Lary, O et al. (2021) [25] |
British Medical Journal | France | 7481 GPs | Change to French GP | Observational study | Widespread changes in French GP |
| Solans, O et al. (2021) [34] |
Journal of Medical Internet Research | Spain | 5.8 Million | Profile of eHealth users | Descriptive, Observational Study | General changes in profile across patient groups |
| Tuijt, R et al. (2020) [45] |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | 30 Patients | Dementia patient attitude to remote consult | Qualitative interviews | Found calls reassuring but limited in scope |
| Verhoeven, V et al. (2020) [24] |
British Medical Journal | Belgium | 132 GPs | Impact of COVID on primary care | Qualitative interview | Increased workload re. training + keeping up to date on knowledge re. COVID + online triage |
| Wanat, M et al. (2021) (22) |
British Journal of General Practice | UK | n/a | Understand how dif. Euro countries PCPs dealt with first wave | Exploratory qualitative study Semi-structured interviews |
Generally–dealt well. Variation across countries. |