Non-urgent use of emergency services: a qualitative study with patients of an urgent care center in Vitória, Espírito Santo State, Brazil in 2019

Abstract

Primary health care is the point of entry to the health system, providing emergency services for situations that require immediate treatment. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons patients use emergency services for non-urgent medical problems. We carried out a qualitative study based on 29 semi-structured interviews with patients of an urgent care center in Vitória, Brazil, conducted in 2019. According to the interviewees, it was easier to get immediate resolutive care in urgent and emergency care services, while obtaining immediate, rapid access to resolutive care in primary care services was difficult. The findings show that the utilization or urgent care centers for non-urgent problems was complex and involved not only difficulty accessing primary care services, but also individual and public understanding of the role of each type of health facility in the health system.