The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary health care practices and patient management in the Republic of Moldova - results from the PRICOV-19 survey

BMC Primary Care

Research

Sara Willems¹  Esther Van Poel¹  Ala Curteanu²  Cristina Rotaru³  Ghenadie Curocichin⁴  Helen Prytherch⁵  Giulia Delvento⁵ 

[1] Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;Quality and Safety Ghent, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;Healthy Life project: Reducing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in Moldova, Chișinău, Moldova;Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Chișinău, Moldova;Mother and Child Institute, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova;Healthy Life project: Reducing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in Moldova, Chișinău, Moldova;Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Chișinău, Moldova;Nicolae Testemitanu Medical University, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova;Nicolae Testemitanu Medical University, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova;Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland;University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003, Basel, Switzerland;

关键词: COVID-19;    Primary health care;    Health systems;    Republic of Moldova;    Family doctor;    General practitioner;    Infectious disease;    PRICOV-19;    Quality of care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12875-023-02116-3

 received in 2023-01-08, accepted in 2023-07-20,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on health systems in Europe and has generated unprecedented challenges for tertiary care. Less is known about the effects on the activities of local family doctors (FDs), who have shifted tasks and adapted their practice to accommodate the new services brought by the pandemic. The PRICOV-19 study was a multi-country survey aiming to understand the challenges posed by the pandemic in primary health care (PHC) practices around Europe. Within the framework of this study, we assessed the impact of the pandemic on PHC facilities in urban, rural, and mixed urban/rural areas in the Republic of Moldova.MethodsWe present the results from the PRICOV-19 questionnaire designed at Ghent University (Belgium) and distributed between January and March 2021 to PHC facilities from the 35 districts of the Republic of Moldova. This analysis presents descriptive data on limitations to service delivery, staff role changes, implementation and acceptance of COVID-19 guidelines, and incidents reported on staff and patient safety during the pandemic.ResultsResults highlighted the differences between facilities located in urban, rural, and mixed areas in several dimensions of PHC. Nearly half of the surveyed facilities experienced limitations in the building or infrastructure when delivering services during the pandemic. 95% of respondents reported an increase in time spent giving information to patients by phone, and 88% reported an increase in responsibilities. Few practices reported errors in clinical assessments, though a slightly higher number of incidents were reported in urban areas. Half of the respondents reported difficulties delivering routine care to patients with chronic conditions and a delay in treatment-seeking.ConclusionsDuring the pandemic, the workload of PHC staff saw a significant increase, and practices met important structural and organizational limitations. Consequently, these limitations may have also affected care delivery for vulnerable patients with chronic conditions. Adjustments and bottlenecks need to be addressed, considering the different needs of PHC facilities in urban, rural, and mixed areas.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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