How do general practices manage requests from patients for 'same-day' appointments? A questionnaire survey.
Same-day appointment requests are common and can be problematic for general practices that run appointment systems. In a questionnaire survey sent to 90 general practices in one health authority area (response rate 88%), a variety of management systems existed for dealing with same-day appointment requests. Managing the requests was found to be a significant cause of stress for many general practitioners. Registrars, locums, and practice nurses play only a small part in meeting patient demands and few practices operate telephone triage to help manage these requests.
Mount Pleasant Health Centre, Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter, EX4 7BW. researchmphc@talk21.com
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D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D004739:England; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008496:Medical Receptionists / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires