Representative quotations to theme 2 and subthemes
| Themes | Subthemes | Quotations |
| Offering person-centred care far from a general hospital | Striving to see and understand the patient in their context | “…so, when I admit a patient I’m familiar with, it takes - I believe 5 minutes. I instantly know what the issue is, what I want to do for the stay, what blood tests I want, and I can do the admission right away without a lengthy medical history.” (Doctor 6) |
| “…you shouldn’t ask the patient “what’s the matter with you”; you should ask “what matters to you” And I feel that’s the essence of what we’re doing.” (Doctor 5) | ||
| “It’s incredibly satisfying for me as a doctor to actually be able to cure a patient quite often… It’s not just about diagnosing and sending them away, but actually treating them and seeing with my own eyes that the patient is getting better, more energetic, and can go home.” (Doctor 5) | ||
| “We shouldn’t offload (the general hospital); we should take care of our patients.” (Doctor 7) | ||
| “…it’s absolutely the worst thing that has happened in primary care during this time. In an operation where the cornerstone is continuity and quality, it has instead led to enormous costs, tremendous inefficiency… this is a completely insane system that has been allowed to flourish.” (Doctor 13) | ||
| Making medical decisions and taking action far from a general hospital | “…you can have a better picture here, where you know the patient, perhaps their own stance and preferences, and you also know the relatives, maybe a bit more about how they think about the patient, like “Should we really perform this examination on you” So, we might not need to do it; it might be the best option.” (Doctor 14) | |
| “In such a remote healthcare centre, we must… refrain from sending patients too often, or else the day may come when a five year-old dies needlessly because we can’t secure a medical transport.” (Doctor 6) | ||
| “You can’t be too afraid of emergency care (…) if you’re going to work here. Because at some point, something happens, and then it gets a bit intense.” (Doctor 4) | ||
| “I mean, of course, you can drown. But you don’t really think about it when you’re swimming across deep water, and yet you swim, and it’s perfectly normal. It’s the same with responsibility; it’s something you have as part of the package, and it’s not something you think about very much.” (Doctor 12) | ||
| “…this job is like walking on a damn minefield. You can step on a mine even if you go slowly, but the risk is higher if you’re running…” (Doctor 5) | ||
| “If I wasn’t here, it would be even worse” and “I did not make the patient ill, it depends on their having a disease.” (Doctor 5) |