Table 4 Perceiving the need for making routine visits to GP

Patient priorities and interest in routine chronic disease management

Patient does not prioritize routine visits

Q1 “[…] sometimes we organize a follow up appointment but they may not necessarily return at that specified day or they just come when they want to” (GP 2 CES)

Q2 “[…] certainly here in the affluent suburbs of Sydney, my experience of people using our service is that most people are not that interested […] they feel like they haven’t got time. They just rely on their medication. Managing that chronic disease is not a priority. They’ll come in if they’re really sick […]” (Practice nurse 8 CES)

Provider prioritizing routine care

Provider reasons for ensuring routine care

Q3 “I think good quality of care is […] making sure they come back for regular review.” (Practice nurse 12 CES)

Q4 “[…] a patient who is a regular, routine patient. They will most likely be booked in to see me because we are following up a complex problem […] monitoring something like diabetes or hyperlipidemia or checking out their bone mineral density.” (GP 5 NBM)

Q5 “[…] when I came here they didn’t have any really structured chronic disease management program so not many health assessments and not many care plans. We’re slowly changing that system to look at trying to get patients to come in proactively or to be proactive in having patients come back for better managed appointments rather than just turning up when they’re sick.” (Practice nurse 9 CES)