Primary care teams in Ireland: a qualitative mapping review of Irish grey and published literature

Introduction: The Irish government published its primary care strategy, Primary Care: A New Direction in 2001. Progress with the implementation of Primary care teams is modest. The aim of this paper is to map the Irish grey literature and peer-reviewed publications to determine what research has been carried out in relation to primary care teams, the reform process and interdisciplinary working in primary care in Ireland. Methods: This scoping review employed three methods: a review of Web of Science, Medline and Embase databases, an email survey of researchers across academic institutions, the HSE and independent researchers and a review of Lenus and the Health Well repository. Results: N = 123 outputs were identified. N = 14 were selected for inclusion. A thematic analysis was undertaken. Common themes identified were resources, GP participation, leadership, clarity regarding roles in primary care teams, skills and knowledge for primary care team working, communication and community. Conclusion: There is evidence of significant problems that disrupt team formation and functioning that warrants more comprehensive research.