Abstract Body

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly affected the delivery of general practice in Europe. The rapid implementation of telemedicine has brought both threats and opportunities in the delivery of care especially in settings where the way of delivering care is more traditional. It is clear that there are certain common steps in healthcare prevention and management of COVID-19 pandemic in most European countries, however, we want to find out more about what is happening across rural Europe.

Aim and learning objectives: To provide an overview of how primary care has been affected in rural areas and what we expect in the future, when we will return into the so called “new normal”.

Methods and timetable: This workshop will be chaired by the European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association (EURIPA) and it will be structured in three parts:

The first will include brief highlights from the authors on the outcomes of the EURIPA Covid-19 Survey.

Then, there will include a discussion in small groups on key issues emerging from these outcomes and lessons learned from Covid-19 pandemic.

Finally, we will discuss issues related to the real world rural primary care post-COVID practice.

(Proposed) Results / Conclusions: This workshop is expected to provide an overview of real-life rural primary care during the pandemic and suggestions on how to address the opportunities and threats for the future.