Data sets in the Remote by Default study and subsamples used to explore patient safety issues
| Data set label | Sample | Overall aim of this substudy | Recruitment and data collection | Nature of data | Original sample | Subsample analysed in present study on patient safety |
| A | Narrative interviews with people who had had remote consultations for suspected COVID-19 | Exploring experiences on long COVID12 38 | Patient participants were initially recruited via social media (TG's Twitter feed), through which we made contact with online patient support groups. List managers posted invitations asking specifically for participants from demographic subgroups initially under-represented in our sample (men, older people and ethnically minoritised groups). Further participants, including those not on social media, were recruited by snowballing from primary contacts. Interviews lasted 30–90 min; all were held by telephone or video using Zoom, except for one which was done by email at the participant’s request. Taking a narrative approach,39 we interviewed patients asking them to tell their story in their own words and interrupted as little as possible using conversational prompts (such as ‘what happened next?’) to keep the narrative intact and make space for sensitive issues to be raised. | 55 interview transcripts | 55 patients, of whom 14 were also clinicians | 10 individual patient interviews |
| B | Online focus groups with patients | Exploring experiences on long COVID12 38 | Patients were recruited by social media and additional snowballing; some were also clinicians. Clinicians were invited to discuss their experiences of assessing patients with suspected COVID-19. Focus groups for patients and clinicians were by Zoom and lasted 90 min. Facilitators used the group process to seek peer reactions to statements and stories and invite similar or contrasting narratives. Video and audio were recorded and contemporaneous fieldnotes taken. | 8 focus group transcripts | 59 patients, of whom 31 were also clinicians | Focus group comments from approximately 20 patients |
| C | Delphi study of clinicians including four-round survey | Part of the development of the RECAP severity score 11 33 | Clinician participants (including medical consultants, GPs, nurses, paramedics, trainees, emergency specialists) were recruited by social media and additional snowballing. They were invited to provide input to a Delphi exercise via survey (including unlimited space for free text comments); methodological details have been published previously.11 33 | 3 focus group transcripts, free text comments in surveys and on case vignettes | 72 (68 GPs, 3 nurses, 1 paramedic) | Free text comments from 30 clinicians |
| D | Online focus groups with clinicians on assessing COVID-19 remotely with RECAP score | Part of the development of the RECAP severity score 11 33 | Focus groups for patients and clinicians were by Zoom and lasted 90 min. Facilitators used the group process to seek peer reactions to statements and stories and invite similar or contrasting narratives. Video and audio were recorded and contemporaneous fieldnotes taken. | 3 focus group transcripts | 40 (28 GPs, 11 nurses, 1 paramedic) | Focus group comments from approximately 12 clinicians |
| E | 2-hour online workshop for stakeholders | Part of exploration of impact of remote assessment on wider infrastructure40 | The workshop, the first of a series on the effects of digital system changes on patients and staff in primary care, included clinicians, service users, national policymakers and technology designers; they were invited via email and phone by members of the research team. It was held via Zoom, lasted 120 min and included smaller facilitated breakout groups plus plenaries. We circulated agenda, topics and ground rules about confidentiality and group discussion in advance. Prompt questions for the breakout groups are available from the authors. We took fieldnotes and saved the chats, but did not audiotape the workshop. | Workshop fieldnotes | 40 (including clinicians, policymakers, patient reps, technology designers) | Researcher fieldnotes and workshop chat comments from approximately 15 participants |
| Total | 266 participants | 87 participants* |
*These figures are estimates because it is not possible to be 100% sure which person is speaking in an audio recording of a focus group. We have estimated that approximately 40% of the total sample contributed to the sections analysed for this study.
RECAP, Remote COVID-19 Assessment in Primary Care.