Something for the weekend! Saturday services - what do patients want and what do they need?

We investigated our patients' preferences for weekend services at the same time as commencing a new Saturday clinic. Patients were asked for their views on weekend services: 374 questionnaires were returned; 210 (56%) from women and 164 (44%) from men. Saturday services were rated as more important than Sunday services. One hundred and eleven patients (29.7%) said they would be likely/very likely to use a Saturday service, whereas only 67 (17.9%) rated Sunday services as important/very important. We also undertook an evaluation of our new Saturday service. A total of 214 patients (187 new/rebooks and 27 follow-ups) attended during the first 12 weeks; average 18 patients per clinic; 107 (50%) men. Introducing text appointment reminders reduced did not attend (DNA) rates from 19% to 14% (background clinic DNA rate 10%). There were more men (P = 0.01), more patients with symptoms (P < 0.0001) and more with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (P = 0.02) attending on Saturdays. We have increased access for those patients who have difficulty attending on weekdays (56%), reduced anxiety (44%) and accessed a population with a high prevalence of STIs (44%). We conclude our Saturday service is affordable, sustainable and in patients' interests. Other clinics may wish to look at the needs of their local population and design services appropriate to their own area.