Patient Experience of Care in an Interprofessional Field Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

In March 2020, the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 led to the declaration of a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. As a result of the rapid spread and severity of the disease, health services experienced unprecedented pressure on acute hospital systems. Many strategies were implemented to both curb the spread of the disease and manage its impact on health services. Field hospitals were one such measure, deployed as surge capacity facilities to provide solutions to patient flow challenges due to spikes in hospital admissions associated with COVID-19. In Ireland, a temporary Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) was established on the grounds of a university campus in response to the pandemic. Designed as a step-down interprofessional care facility for local acute hospitals, this service had capacity for 84 patients and was operational for 4 months. A qualitative study was conducted to explore patient’s experience of receiving care in the ICF. Thirteen patients participated in semi-structured interviews post-discharge. Following inductive thematic analysis, 3 main themes emerged: the ICF as a (1) Novel healthcare setting, (2) Person-centered care and (3) Psycho-social climate. This study describes patients’ experience of care in the ICF during the COVID-19 pandemic which may inform future policies and practice initiatives targeting patient care and patient outcomes, as well as pandemic preparedness and response plans.