Checklists for emergencies in general practice: Participatory design of a quick reference handbook.

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Medicine
• Patient Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Emergency presentations in General Practice (GP) are rising, but existing tools are not suitable for primary care.
• GP teams may lack frequent experience managing emergencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify common emergency presentations in GP settings.
• To co-design bespoke checklists for safer emergency management within GP.

Main Methods:

• Participatory design methodology involving multidisciplinary GP teams.
• Development of GP-specific emergency checklists for a Quick Reference Handbook (GP-QRH).
• In-situ simulations and usability testing in multiple GP practices informed iterative refinement.

Main Results:

• The final GP-QRH includes 15 clinical emergency checklists, a non-clinical staff checklist, handover template, and debrief guidance.
• Usability testing in 11 GP practices showed positive feedback on simple design, clear language, and escalation prompts.
• Emphasis was placed on team training for effective checklist utilization.

Conclusions:

• The first GP-QRH tailored for primary care has been developed through co-design.
• The handbook has the potential to enhance emergency care and patient safety in UK and international general practice.
• Impact relies on consistent use, leadership, and further evaluation of clinical impact.