One stop breast clinics--victims of their own success? A prospective audit of referrals to a specialist breast clinic.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to assess the number of unnecessary referrals to a specialist breast clinic, with special reference to urgent referrals, and to compare referrals with published guidelines for referral to these clinics.


METHODS
We carried out a prospective audit of new patient referrals from primary care to a specialist breast clinic. We assessed the total number of referrals, proportion of urgent and non-urgent referrals, proportion of unnecessary referrals according to published guidelines, waiting times for outpatient appointments and outcomes for these patients.


RESULTS
Of the total of 321 referrals, 35% were urgent. Twenty-eight per cent of urgent referrals and 37% of non-urgent were inappropriate according to published guidelines. Ten per cent of referrals had breast cancer while 90% had benign disease or no pathology.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a proliferation of guidelines (NHS, SIGN, BASO, Patients' Charter) for the organization of specialist breast clinics with the aim of providing rapid diagnosis for patients with malignant disease, or reassurance for symptomatic patients that they do not have breast cancer. However increasing numbers of patients are being referred to these clinics with minimal or no pathology, and this is not acknowledged by these guidelines. In this prospective study of referrals from primary care to a specialist breast clinic, one-third of referrals were inappropriate and this inevitably reduced the efficiency of the service provided for patients with significant symptoms.
Patel
R S
RS
Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, UK.
Smith
D C
DC
Reid
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012606:Scotland; D006113:United Kingdom; D014600:Utilization Review