title: Managing outpatient consultations: from referral to discharge.
abstract: Although a great deal of paediatric consultations are not urgent, doctors in training spend so much time providing service for acute conditions that they spend little time focusing on outpatient work before they become a consultant. Engaging clinicians in the managerial aspects of providing clinical care is a key to improving outcomes, and this article addresses these aspects of the outpatient consultation from referral to discharge. We aim to provide doctors in training with a tool to use during their training and their first few years as a consultant, to think about how outpatient work is organised and how it can be improved to maximise patient experience. The non-urgent consultation varies across the world; this article is aimed to be relevant to an international audience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Lewisham, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Whittington Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Royal London Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Benita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Evelina Children's Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Chloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macaulay
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Lewisham, London, UK.
authors.forename: Kumudini
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Whittington Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fertleman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D010820:Physicians; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States
keywords: Health Economics; Paediatric Practice; Patient perspective; management; outpatients