The patient reception process in basic health units of the Federal District

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: Primary Health Care is the preferred gateway of the Brazilian health system, responsible for providing the first care to the population and ensuring access to other services of the Unified Health System (SUS). In this perspective, ensuring quality patient reception in Basic Health Units (UBS) is extremely important, as it can define the comprehensiveness and continuity of health care. Objectives: This research aims to understand the patient reception process in UBS of the Federal District (DF), seeking to clarify the factors leading to inadequate reception and to assist in improving policies and programs aimed at enhancing health access. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted in three UBS in the DF, analyzing the professionals' perspective on spontaneous demand and scheduling, knowledge about reception, difficulties faced, and possible improvement strategies. Data collection involved documentary analysis and 31 semi-structured interviews analyzed according to Bardin's (1977) content analysis methodology, followed by pre-analysis, material exploration, result processing, and data interpretation. Results: Both strengths and advances in the public health system, as well as gaps and existing obstacles were identified. Although the concept of reception is well-defined and known, its practical application is not ideal or, at least, satisfactory. Based on the responses, there is a failure in understanding this process, where some professionals are unaware of who is responsible for reception and confuse its stages with triage or consultation. This scenario is compounded by a lack of clarity among professionals about how to proceed in the absence of another team member. Additionally, security guards tend to show greater resistance in reception, especially toward patients not from the unit's coverage area. Conclusions: The identified difficulties stem from the lack of a well-defined and communicated service flow, aggravated by limitations in staffing and infrastructure, as well as insufficient continuous training for the entire team. Therefore, it is concluded that greater investment in ensuring complete, well-structured, and better-trained teams is essential for broad, facilitated, appropriate, and universal access.