Orthopaedic attendance also worse with choose and book

doi:10.1136/bmj.b1060

Published 17 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1060
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1060

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Choose and book rides again

Orthopaedic attendance also worse with choose and book

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

We report a similar decline in patient attendance with chooseand book to that described by Modayil and colleagues.¹

Choose and book went fully online for elective orthopaedic referralsto our hospital in October 2006. In 2005 there were 3144 electivereferrals to orthopaedic outpatients, of which 170 did not attend(5.41%). In 2008 the number of elective referrals rose to 3961,but the number of non-attendances was 349 (8.81%). The increasein non-attendance rates between 2005 and 2008 was significant( ${chi}$ ²=29.49 (Yates corrected); P<0.0001) and equates to a 39%rise in non-attendance rates after the start of choose and book.It inevitably reduces the cost efficiency and productivity ofthe department.

Despite the raison d’être of choose and book, patientscomplain of a lack of choice about appointment date, appointmenttime, and hospital availability.² General practitioners bemoanthe system’s inflexibility and the inability to referspecific problems to . . . [Full text of this article]

Thomas B Beckingsale, third year SpR, orthopaedic surgery¹, Ian W Wallace, consultant orthopaedic surgeon¹

¹ James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough TS4 3BW

tombeckingsale@doctors.net.uk

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Patients’ attendance at clinics is worse with choose and book: Prince Cheriyan Modayil, Rachael Hornigold, Raad John Glore, and David A Bowdler
BMJ 2009 338: b396. [Extract] [Full Text]