What type of primary care services does the public want?

Abstract

Objective: To find out what type of primary care services the public in Hong Kong wants. Design: Cross sectional population telephone survey. Subjects: 996 Cantonese speaking Chinese adults aged 21 years or above were randomly selected from households in Hong Kong. Main outcome measures: People's preference for the type of practices, doctors, access systems, consultations and other services in primary care. Results: Most people preferred to consult the same doctor close to their homes. Many people wanted doctors to be available in the evenings, weekends and public holidays. More people preferred a walk-in than a telephone appointment system. Most thought it was important for their primary care doctors to have higher medical qualifications. More people preferred male to female doctors. The majority (68%) thought an average consultation should last for more than 5 minutes. Over 90% thought it was important for the doctor to give detailed explanations on their illnesses and treatments. Many wanted primary care practices to provide preventive care. Thirty-seven percent of subjects would consult specialists without referrals. Thirty percent of people agreed that nurses could be responsible for following up chronic diseases but only 16% thought they could treat minor illnesses. Conclusion: The study confirmed that the public wanted accessible, available and comprehensive primary care services provided by doctors with postgraduate higher medical qualifications. Contrary to previous beliefs, most people preferred to consult the same doctor all the time and people wanted explanation as much as medications from doctors.