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Attendance rate in an alcohol problem clinic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Imad M. Ali  and
Andrew J. McBride
Imad M. Ali*
Affiliation:
Gwent Community Health NHS Trust Talygam County Hospital, Griffithstown, Pontypool Gwent
Andrew J. McBride
Affiliation:
Community Addiction Unit Cardiff Community Healthcare, NHS Trust, Whitchurch Hospital, Whitchurch, Cardiff
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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The high rate of non-attendance for first appointments at psychiatric clinics is wasteful of health service resources. Previous studies have demonstrated reductions in the non-attendance rates when referred patients were asked to contact the clinic to confirm that they wished to be seen before an appointment was sent. The effect of introducing such a process to a community based alcohol service was investigated. Results showed that although there was a reduction in the non-attendance rate, the overall effect was to discourage patients from attending the clinic, resulting in a large reduction in the proportion of all referrals seen. Alternative approaches are discussed.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , June 1997 , pp. 343 - 345
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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