Structure and responsiveness: are Primary Health Care Units prepared to face COVID-19?

Denise de Lima Costa  Furlanetto; Wallace Dos  Santos; Magda Duarte dos Anjos  Scherer; Fabrício Vieira  Cavalcante; Aimê Oliveira; Klébya Hellen Dantas de  Oliveira; Ricardo Ramos dos Santos; Thaís Alessa  Leite; Katia Crestine  Poças; Leonor Maria Pacheco  Santos

Autores/as

Denise de Lima Costa Furlanetto Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5703-7520
Wallace Dos Santos Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5705-936X
Magda Duarte dos Anjos Scherer Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1465-7949
Fabrício Vieira Cavalcante Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8706-0457
Aimê Oliveira Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3084-6491
Klébya Hellen Dantas de Oliveira Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3600-4009
Ricardo Ramos dos Santos Secretaria de Estado de Saúde do Distrito Federal (SES-DF) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1202-3579
Thaís Alessa Leite Secretaria de Estado de Saúde do Distrito Federal (SES-DF) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9307-4807
Katia Crestine Poças Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1254-8001
Leonor Maria Pacheco Santos Universidade de Brasília (UnB) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6739-6260

Palabras clave:

COVID-19. Primary Health Care. Structure of services. Evaluation study. Health services research.

Resumen

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the need for global efforts to grant universal health coverage and access, which imposes management challenges for Primary Health Care (PHC). This study aimed to develop and apply an instrument to assess the PHC Units’ responsiveness to COVID-19, based on co- production efforts between university researchers and PHC technical teams. All the 165 PHC Units in Brasília were invited to complete the instrument. Main results: there was physical structure adaptation (adequate configuration of waiting rooms, internal and external spaces allowing safe distance); provision of PPE and COVID-19 tests; active search for SRP/COVID-19 suspects by phone, mobile or home visits; monitoring flows of patient transfer and telehealth implementation. In conclusion, the PHC Units reorganized their services to meet the demands of the pandemic context. Providing information about structure and responsiveness of PHC Units may subside health systems for planning and decision- making at different levels of management, which is crucial to determine strategies to empower and reinforce PHC responsivity in situations of pandemics and other calamities.