RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Changing media depictions of remote consulting in COVID-19: analysis of UK newspapers
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP e1
OP e9
DO 10.3399/BJGP.2020.0967
VO 71
IS 702
A1 Gilly Mroz
A1 Chrysanthi Papoutsi
A1 Alex Rushforth
A1 Trisha Greenhalgh
YR 2021
UL http://bjgp.org/content/71/702/e1.abstract
AB Background Remote consulting was introduced quickly into UK general practice in March 2020 as an emergency response to COVID-19. In July 2020, ‘remote-first’ became long-term government policy.Aim To explore how this change was portrayed in national newspapers and how depictions changed over time.Design and setting Thematic analysis of newspaper articles referring to remote GP consultations from two time periods: 2 March–31 May 2020 (period 1) and 30 July–12 August 2020 (period 2).Method Articles were identified through, and extracted from, LexisNexis Academic UK. A coding system of themes and narrative devices was developed and applied to the data. The analysis was developed iteratively, amending the coding structure as new data were added.Results Remote consulting was widely covered in newspapers. Articles in period 1 depicted it positively, equating digital change with progress and linking novel technological solutions with improved efficiency and safety (for example, infection control) in a service that was overdue for modernisation. Articles in period 2 questioned the persistence of a remote-first service now that the pandemic was waning, emphasising, for example, missed diagnoses, challenges to the therapeutic relationship, and digital inequalities.Conclusion As the first wave of the pandemic came and went, media depictions of remote consulting evolved from an ‘efficiency and safety’ narrative to a ‘risks, inequalities, and lack of choice’ narrative. To restore public trust in general practice, public communication should emphasise the wide menu of consulting options now available to patients and measures being taken to assure safety and avoid inequity.