| Sub-title | |
| Author | C Azzopardi |
| Abstract | Waiting time in clinic is defined as the interval between the time of appointment and the actual time of encounter with the health care professional. Objective: To determine the clinic waiting time (CWT) at the lipid clinic, to identify demographic and geographic variables that may affect it, and to compare the CWT with a standard set in the Quality Service Charter. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants and setting: New cases and follow-up cases attending the lipid clinic at St Lukes hospital between September 2003 and July 2004 and seen by the consultant. Data collected: Date of clinic; time of appointment as appears on the patient administration system printout for the clinic; time of entry in doctors office; age; sex; locality of residence; new case or follow-up case. Data analysis: Mean and median CWT was determined for both sexes, new cases, follow-up cases, and region of residence. Results: The mean CWT was 31 minutes (median 15 minutes). For appointments between 8:00 and 10.00 hours the mean CWT was 44 minutes (median 37 minutes) and for appointments after 10:00 the mean CWT was 10 minutes (median 0 minutes). The proportion of patients seen within 30 minutes of their time of appointment was 0.6. Of these, more than one half (0.55) were seen before the time of appointment. The proportion of patients with a CWT longer than one hour was 0.2 and was twice as much for new cases than for follow-up cases (0.4 versus 0.2). This was constant for the various geographic regions. Conclusion: Clinic waiting times at the lipid clinic compare favourably to those reported for the outpatients in general. New cases have the longest CWT. There is a positive correlation between number of appointments over time and the CWT, but no correlation between region of residence and CWT longer than one hour |
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| Journal | Malta Medical Journal |
| Volume | 15 Issue 1-2/suppl. 2003 |
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| Key words | outpatient clinic, waiting time |