title: What is the impact of consultant supervision on outpatient follow-up rate?
abstract: This study investigated the impact of consultants on recycling rates of patients in the ENT outpatient clinic. A retrospective case review of 4205 consecutive patients who attended ENT outpatient clinics of an UK teaching hospital over a 3-month period was conducted. There was a significant association between grade of medical staff and recycling rate of new patients, and also for review patients. Junior doctors have lower recycling rates in consultant-led clinics compared with clinics in the absence of consultants for both new patients (consultant-led 41.0%, without consultant 60.1%; P < 0.01) and old patients (consultant-led 48.9%, without consultant 65.0%; P < 0.01). Individual consultant's practice was reflected upon the overall recycling rate of the clinic as a whole (r = 0.94, P = 0.001). In conclusion, individual consultant's practice dictated recycling rate in the ENT outpatient clinic. Junior doctors were less likely to make follow-up appointments when directly supervised by their consultants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK. stephenlo@lycos.co.uk
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fergie
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Narula
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D010036:Otolaryngology; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies