Waiting list information strategies for child psychiatry: an intervention and measurement approach

This paper describes a number of steps we have initiated to study our chronic waiting list problems. We describe a program involving monthly data collection which has enabled us to document the effectiveness of some strategies and predictive variables. During 1989 the data were supplemented with information collected by a questionnaire mailed to every other referral. We found that an initial response to the questionnaire was a powerful predictor of successfully kept first appointments six to 12 months later. The significance of these differences, the impact of our tracking procedures and the issues and causes, along with some strategies, are discussed.