GPs' experience of embedded Musculoskeletal Advanced Practice Physiotherapists in Primary Care: A cross-sectional survey with content analysis.

BACKGROUND

General Practices across Scotland have expanded their multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) to include non-medical allied health professionals (NMAHPs) as part of the 2018 General Medical Services Contract (GMS), including musculoskeletal (MSK) Advanced Practice Physiotherapists (APPs). MDT expansion was hoped to reduce General Practitioner (GP) workloads and release their time to care for patients with complex needs. Published research concerning GPs' experiences of these roles is conflicting on whether they perceive this to be the case.

AIM

To understand GPs' experience of MSK APPs since their integration within MDTs.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Observational study of N = 22 GPs' from a single health and social care partnership (HSCP) within an NHS Scotland Health Board.

METHOD

Cross-sectional survey study with conceptual analysis of open free-text responses.

RESULTS

The majority of GPs' agreed that MSK APPs: impacted positively on their management of clinical caseloads and diagnostic uncertainty; improved quality of care and system flow for patients with MSK conditions; had been embedded successfully with adequate implementation support, and their role was clear.

CONCLUSION

Findings support the argument that APPs are contributing to the achievement of GMS contract aims. Further research is required to increase the pool of available studies from which evidence-based recommendations can be made to health boards. Consistency in the design and wording of future surveys would improve the level of inference that can be drawn on GPs' experiences of MSK APP services.