Innovative Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Primary Healthcare: The Case of the Arte Nova Family Health Unit

Primary healthcare (PHC) is a fundamental pillar in a health system, and its role has only been enhanced in the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of COVID-19 required health systems and, in particular, PHCs to develop a constant capacity to adapt and resist adversity. Therefore, it was considered important to identify innovative measures and thus the experience of a family health unit (USF) in Portugal - USF Arte Nova (USFAN) was reported. After carrying out a systematic review of the literature and interviews with the Presidents of the Clinical and Health Councils of five Health Centre Groupings, the measures identified were gathered and compared to the ones carried out by USFAN. Subsequently, the study identified the measures considered to be truly original executed by the health unit. Between the measures presented, the use of an access prioritization score was highlighted, as were daily briefing regarding the management of resources and equipment, qualification of the use of personal protective equipment, the project that aimed to optimize the use of paper; the use of a drive-through method to update the National Vaccination Program; and the daily training and sharing of information about COVID-19. In light of the current pandemic, innovative practices and tools have been created and carried out by the healthcare professionals in response to the growing needs of the population. This shows the resilience of these professionals and constitutes an opportunity to share and implement these tools in other health-care facilities highlighting the continuing chance of improving.