‘Stepchildren of the Ministry’: an examination of the difficulties endured by family physicians in Istanbul during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic
Yeşim Yasin
1 * , Seray Başak Bozkurt 1 , Cansu Yıldırım 1 , Atakan Arzak 1 , Hakan Döndürür 1 , Adar Eken 1 , Ismail Jan Kara 1
1 Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Icerenkoy mah. Kayisdagi cad. No: 32, 34684 Atasehir-Istanbul, Turkey.
Journal of Primary Health Care 14(1) 57-63 https://doi.org/10.1071/HC21141
Published: 30 March 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY)
Abstract
Introduction: Efforts to contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus would fall short without strong primary health care.
Aim: In this study, we aimed to understand family physicians’ experiences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Istanbul, focusing on their coping strategies in order to draw lessons for the future management of pandemics.
Methods: Twelve community-based physicians working in Istanbul participated in semi-structured interviews between January and May 2021. Purposive sampling was used to ensure a range of physicians’ characteristics. Individual interviews were conducted with each participant on an online platform. Participants were asked 26 open-ended questions. Phenomenological analysis was performed to describe experiences of physicians.
Results: The physical conditions of participants’ health centres were insufficient to provide service safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most physicians were uncomfortable about the quality and quantity of personal protective equipment received from the Ministry of Health and took additional measures themselves. Vaccine supply was thought to be insufficient and there were problems with the associated software. Many family physicians highlighted the inadequate communication from the Ministry. Insufficient knowledge about the disease caused anxiety and fear for the physicians and hindered their performance at the beginning of the pandemic. Physicians who live with their families were more anxious than those who did not.
Discussion: Despite challenges, routine procedures have mostly been continued, but newly added responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic have had significant impact on physicians’ lives.
Keywords: ambulatory care, COVID‐19, family health centres, family physicians, general practitioners, Istanbul, pandemic, primary health care, qualitative research, vaccines.
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