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Non-attendance rates among patients attending different grades of psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist within a community mental health clinic

Maudsley Hospital, 103 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ

Emma Ek, Trainee Psychologist and Jerome Carson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist

South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London

AIMS AND METHOD

To examine non-attendance rates in patients seen by psychiatrists of different grades and a consultant clinical psychologist. Rates were obtained from the patient administration system over a 21-month period.

RESULTS

A planned linear contrast showed that the clinical psychologist's patients had the lowest rate of non-attendance (7.8%), followed in turn by those of consultant psychiatrists (18.6%), specialist registrars (34%) and senior house officers (37.5%).

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Factors such as continuity of care, perceived clinical competence and the provision of non-medical interventions might have an impact on attendance rates. These results indicate the difficulty in reconciling the training needs of junior doctors with the provision of continuity and quality of care for patients. Reminder systems for people seeing training doctors might be an effective way of reducing non-attendance rates.

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