Access to genitourinary medicine clinics: how long does it take to book an appointment by telephone?

A unique feature of genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics is that patients can book appointments themselves. The aim of this study was to assess how long it takes and the barriers that exist when making an appointment in a UK GU medicine clinic. Male and female researchers recorded the number of attempts needed to make a successful contact, how the call was dealt with, and the time taken for the call to be initially answered and then completed; 72% (479/666) of the telephone contacts were answered on the first attempt (range: 1-17). The median length of the total call was one minute 51 seconds (range: 15 seconds to eight minutes, six seconds) but male callers took a mean of 40 seconds longer to complete a call (P < 0.001), reflecting additional and often intrusive questions they were asked compared with female researchers. Care should be taken to ensure that the first point of contact with a clinic is favourable as it reflects on how an entire service may be perceived.