Surgical outpatient clinics: are we allowing enough time?

Performance management initiatives, such as the UK's Patient's Charter, are creating pressure for patients to be seen earlier at out patient clinics, thus increasing clinic workloads. There is, however, little information about whether this can be absorbed, either by utilizing spare capacity or by more efficient use of time, or whether it is likely to affect patient care adversely.

Nine surgical clinics, run by four general surgeons, in an English district general hospital were studied during a typical week. Clinic schedules and numbers invited to attend were extracted from clinic records. An observer recorded the actual time each patient spent with the surgeon to the nearest 5 seconds. Scheduled and actual times of commencement and completion of clinics were also recorded.

The number of patients booked to attend each clinic varied from 11 to 82 (mean 37). The median consultation for new patients was 4.3 minutes and for follow-up patients it was 3 minutes. Consultants spent a median 2.7 minutes with patients whereas junior staff spent 4.2 minutes. These aggregate results conceal considerable variation between surgeons, even though the scheduled time available was similar. The median time spent with new patients by one consultant was 1.3 minutes and by another 13.1 minutes. Seven of the nine clinics overran their scheduled time (by up to 55 minutes). All doctors, with one exception, arrived late for the clinics (range 10 minutes early to 30 minutes late). The first patient was invariably seen after the scheduled starting time for the clinic (mean 17 minutes, range 5-50 minutes) and the median interval between a doctor arriving and seeing their first patient was 10.6 minutes. Overall, only 50% of the time spent by doctors at the clinics was with patients.

The amount of time spent by patients with surgeons is already so short as to cause concern about both the appropriateness and value of consultations. It is unreasonable to increase workload further. There is a clear need for outpatient clinics to be managed, with regular examination of what is taking place and how long it takes. Only then will it be possible to tailor schedules to the actual requirements of the service.