Table 3.

Themes emerged from the data

1. Patient consultations	1.1 high flow of flu patients and worried-well
	• surges of people who were concerned they may get sick
	1.2 provision of information
	• patients seeking personal reassurance
	1.3 antiviral treatment
	• limited experience in prescribing antiviral drugs (Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and Zanamivir (Relenza))
	• prescribing according to strict guidelines
2. Public health responsibilities	2.1 patient segregation
	• difficulty of isolating flu patients in primary care clinics
	2.2 personal protection
	• convenience of using PPE in primary care
	• supply of PPE
3. Communication with the health authorities	3.1 communication of policies and guidelines to PCPs
	• redundant and conflicting communication from multiple sources
	• guidelines - frequently updated, lengthy, not oriented to primary care, conflicting with on-the ground experience
	3.2 bottom-up communication from PCPs
	• time consuming reporting to the authorities
	• no route to provide feedback about the on-the-ground experience to the authorities