Do medical outpatients want 'out of hours' clinics?

BACKGROUND: Patient choice is a major theme in current healthcare delivery. Little is known about patients' wishes regarding the timing of medical outpatient clinics. METHODS: A questionnaire survey of 300 sequential patients attending cardiac and respiratory clinics to determine patients prefe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Feeney, Claire L, Roberts, Nicola J, Partridge, Martyn R
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2005
Materias:
Research Article
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1173106/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15978126
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-5-47
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Patient choice is a major theme in current healthcare delivery. Little is known about patients' wishes regarding the timing of medical outpatient clinics. METHODS: A questionnaire survey of 300 sequential patients attending cardiac and respiratory clinics to determine patients preferences for out of hours and weekend outpatient clinics. (Out of hours defined as a clinic after 5 pm on Mon – Fri) RESULTS: Two hundred and 64 patients completed the survey of which 165 (62.5%) wanted either an out of hours clinics or a weekend clinic. Sixty four (38.8%) specifically stated that this was because of work commitments but for many others, the reasons given were easy to justify. CONCLUSION: Current provision for outpatient consultation may not be convenient for many patients with heart and lung disease. A fuller evaluation of the cost and benefits of more flexible clinic hours is now needed.

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