Table 4 Process of Thematic Analysis (adapted from [45])

Phase 1

Familiarisation

Analysis will start with a period of familiarisation involving watching and re-watching the video-recorded consultation (or listening to audio-records in the cases of interviews), noting initial thoughts in the transcript

Phase 2

Initial coding

For deductive analysis, codes from the PMT template will be applied to the transcript independently by two researchers; for inductive analysis, codes will be generated based on interesting features, and recurrent patterns, in the data. For both inductive and deductive analysis, the researchers will then go back through and check their own codes, before discussion to verify and agree final codes.

Phase 3

Searching for themes

Agreed codes will be collated into potential themes, gathering all data relevant to each potential theme.

Phase 4

Reviewing themes

Constant comparison will be used to check themes by revisiting data to ensure they are representative, and then generating a thematic ‘map’ of the analysis.

Phase 5

Defining and naming themes

Ongoing analysis to refine the specifics of each theme, and the overall story, generating clear definitions and names for each theme

Phase 6

Reporting

Illustrative extracts will be selected to include in a narrative that tells the overall story.