[Time spent waiting at primary care clinics: can this be improved?].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the factors that affect patients´ wait at a health centre before they enter the doctor´s consulting room (CD).


METHODS
Prospective full evaluative cycle of quality.


METHODS
A teaching health centre in the Cartagena Health Area (Murcia).


METHODS
All those patients seen by the doctor during the weeks of the study (1st stage: 3823; 2nd stage: 4247).


METHODS
The dimensions evaluated were accessibility and patient satisfaction, through four criteria. Data were collected from the register of scheduled appointments and by telephone questionnaire. The intervention measures were: a) to create empty spaces without any appointments in the day´s diary in order to avoid delays; b) to create spaces at the end of the day for emergency patients, and c) to avoid interruptions during the consultation.


RESULTS
1st stage: on 48.3% of days there were patients with a delay greater than 20 minutes on entering the CD, with a mean waiting-time of 21.3 minutes per patient. 63.1% of the consulting rooms had over 5% «unavoidable» appointments per day, of which 61.3% were «emergencies». 72.6% of the consulting rooms had 5 or more interruptions per day. 46.7% of patients thought that the time they waited before going into the consulting room was «a lot or enough». 2nd stage: after putting the improvement criteria into practice, the number of consultations with waiting time over 20 minutes dropped (37.1%) (P<.05). The number of unavoidable consultations over 5% of the total fell by 35.7% (P=.001), as did the number of consultations with over 5 interruptions per day (by 58.6%) (P=.001). Fewer patients were dissatisfied with the time they had to wait before going into the CD (40.8%) (P<.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients' waiting time at the clinic dropped. The number of «unavoidable» appointments and interruptions was reduced. Patients´ satisfaction improved with the time they had to wait at the clinic improved. The corrective measures introduced are the right ones for correcting the situation.
Ballesteros Pérez
A M
AM
Médico Atención Primaria. Centro de Salud Cartagena-Casco. Cartagena. Murcia. España.
García González
A L
AL
Fontcuberta Martínez
J
J
Sánchez Rodríguez
F
F
Pérez-Crespo
C
C
Alcázar Manzanera
F
F
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
La demora en la consulta de atención primaria: 'se puede mejorar?