ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on primary care throughout
Europe and globally.
Objectives: This review aims to ascertain how the pandemic has impacted primary care service
provision/patients and to examine strategies to mitigate these impacts.
Methods: The scoping review framework comprised a six-stage process developed by Arksey
and O’Malley. The search process was guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute three-step search
strategy and involved searching the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL Plus, and Cochrane
Library databases. The review is reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. A thematic analysis
approach by Braun and Clarke was used to interpret the findings.
Results: Thirty-two studies from 18 countries and six continents were included, 13 reported original research, three were reviews, and 16 were case reports reporting healthcare systems’ experiences of dealing with the pandemic. Emerging themes concerned the COVID-19 pandemic’s
impact on primary care service provision and patients, the impact of the rapid transition to telemedicine due to COVID-19 on primary care, and strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19
on primary care (i.e. infection prevention and control measures, alternatives/modifications to
traditional service delivery or workflow, government policy responses, and education).
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted on primary care at both service
and patient levels, and various strategies to mitigate these impacts have been described. Future
research examining the pandemic’s ongoing impacts on primary care, as well as strategies to
mitigate these impacts, is a priority