General practitioners’ perceptions of the provision of direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C within Australian private general practice: an exploratory qualitative study
Jane Scarborough
A * , Paul Aylward B and Emma Ruth Miller C
A College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia.
B Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
C Stretton Institute, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
Australian Journal of Primary Health - https://doi.org/10.1071/PY22271
Submitted: 10 December 2022 Accepted: 11 May 2023 Published online: 5 June 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Background: There is a need to increase the involvement of Australian general practitioners (GPs) working in private practice to realise the potential of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for people with the hepatitis C virus.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2018 with seven GPs and two practice nurses working in private general practice to elicit the experiences and perceptions of their involvement in providing care for patients with hepatitis C virus in this setting. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed to inform interventions to maximise the provision of DAA in private general practice.
Results: Participants described individual GPs purposely limiting their scope of clinical practice (SOCP) and expressed an expectation that DAA provision would not be included in all GP’s SOCP. When GPs delineate their SOCP, their confidence to competently provide quality health care to their patients and GPs’ professional special interests are important considerations.
Conclusion: Providing DAA training, skill development, support and resources to GPs is necessary, but may not ensure that individual private GPs will provide this care. Where GPs do not include DAA in their SOCP, care pathways need to be developed for patients who will benefit from DAA, including GP-to-GP referral. These findings may be applicable to other areas of unmet need that rely on GPs including provision of care in their SOCP.
Keywords: delivery of health care, disease management, health manpower, health services: accessibility, health services: needs and demands, primary health care, scope of practice - clinical.
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