24-hour operation for Family Health Units: a solution for access expansion? An essay on the "Upinhas" of Recife

• Autor(a) principal: Pessoa, Bruno Henrique Soares
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Gouveia, Eneline de Andrade Heráclio, Correia, Isabel Brandão
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Medicina de Família e Comunidade (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://www.rbmfc.org.br/rbmfc/article/view/1529
• topic: After-Hours Care. Gatekeeping. Primary Health Care. Family Practice.; Atención Posterior. Control de Acceso. Atención Primaria de Salud. Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria.; Plantão Médico. Controle de Acesso. Atenção Primária à Saúde. Medicina de Família e Comunidade.; Plantão médico; Controle de Acesso; Atenção Primária à Saúde; Medicina de Família e Comunidade

Primary Health Care is a preferential route of access to the health system, considering its ordering role, the benefits of continuity of care and the effectiveness of this level of care. Several access barriers, including restricted hours of operation, make this first contact difficult. In Recife, new equipment for Primary Health Care has been implemented since 2013: the “Upinhas 24 horas”. The objective of this essay is to analyze the “Upinha” model presented as a solution to increase access. A review of the literature on several existing strategies of access expansion was carried out, from which the “Upinha 24 horas” model was analyzed critically through the lenses of the current models. Extended hours, advanced access and welcoming of the spontaneous demand were the models of access expansion revised to support the discussion. The impact of extended hours on increased access can be minimized if other measures, such as changes to the scheduling model prioritizing advanced access, are not implemented concurrently. The “Upinha 24 horas” model, as presented, seems to be based on the conception of a Primary Health Care system that works as a complement to “unload” the services of attendance to emergency services and not as ordering of the system emergency attention. Despite pointing in an initially correct direction, the implementation of the “Upinhas 24 horas” still seems to be an incipient proposal in the guarantee of access.