{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,15]],"date-time":"2025-12-15T19:51:19Z","timestamp":1765828279274,"version":"3.37.3"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]],"date-time":"2023-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684800000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009570","name":"Instituto De Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica, Universidade do Porto","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Matosinhos Local Health Unit; Instituto de Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica da Universidade do Porto"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Matosinhos Local Health Unit; Instituto de Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica da Universidade do Porto"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009570","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In 2020, Portugal had high levels of unmet health care needs. Primary Care was reported as the main source of unmet needs.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To describe face-to-face and remote access to GPs in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. To discover patient experiences and attitudes to access to care. To identify determinants of access to care.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A survey of a random sample of 4,286 adults registered in a group of Family Practices was conducted in 2021. Paper questionnaires were sent by post to patients who had no e-mail address registered with the practice. Patients with an e-mail address were sent a link to an online questionnaire. Outcomes were reported waiting times for face-to-face and remote contacts with GPs, dichotomized to ascertain compliance with standards. Associations between participant characteristics and outcome variables were tested using logistic regression.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Waiting times for face-to-face consultations with GPs during the pandemic often exceeded the maximum waiting times (MWT) set by the National Health Service. Remote contacts were mostly conducted within acceptable standards. Waiting times for speaking with the GP over the phone were rated as \u2018poor\u2019 by 40% and 27% reported requests for these calls as unmet. The odds of getting care over MWT increased for participants who reported poorer digital skills. Participants were less likely to get non-urgent consultations over MWT if they found it easy to use the online patient portal to book appointments (odds ratio 0.24; 99% confidence intervals 0.09\u20130.61), request prescriptions (0.18; 0.04\u20130.74) or insert personal data (0.18; 0.04\u20130.95).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Patient reported access to GPs during the pandemic was uneven in Portugal. Obtaining non-urgent consultations and remote contacts over MWT affected mainly those patients with poor digital skills. Telephone access to GPs received the worse ratings. Access through traditional pathways must remain available, to prevent the widening of inequities.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0285899","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]],"date-time":"2023-05-23T18:25:34Z","timestamp":1684866334000},"page":"e0285899","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Access to General Practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal\u2014A survey study of patient experiences in an urban setting"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7478-5320","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"M\u00f3nica","family":"Granja","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Correia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0285899.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"457","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-0009.2005.00409.x","article-title":"Contribution of Primary Care to Health Systems and Health.","volume":"83","author":"B Starfield","year":"2005","journal-title":"Milbank Quaterly."},{"key":"pone.0285899.ref002","article-title":"The World Health Report 2008\u2014Primary Health Care: Now More Than Ever [Internet]","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2008","journal-title":"Geneva"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0285899.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1370\/afm.682","article-title":"Operational Definitions of Attributes of Primary Health Care: Consensus Among Canadian Experts","volume":"5","author":"J Haggerty","year":"2007","journal-title":"Ann Fam Med"},{"key":"pone.0285899.ref004","first-page":"2204","volume-title":"Portaria n.o 153\/2017 de 4 de maio [Ordinance nr. 153\/2017. 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Three million drop in consultations]","author":"A. Campos","year":"2020","journal-title":"P\u00fablicoInternet]"},{"key":"pone.0285899.ref034","first-page":"1","author":"Dire\u00e7\u00e3o-Geral da Sa\u00fade [Directorate-General for Health]","year":"2020","journal-title":"Norma 004\/2020 COVID-19: Fase de mitiga\u00e7\u00e3o [Guideline 004\/2020 COVID-19: Mitigation phase]."},{"key":"pone.0285899.ref035","first-page":"4","article-title":"Choices for the \u201cNew Normal.\u201d","volume":"5","author":"DM Berwick","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0285899","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]],"date-time":"2023-05-23T18:26:11Z","timestamp":1684866371000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0285899"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Ang\u00e9lica Baptista","family":"Silva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]]},"references-count":35,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0285899","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,23]]}}}