Patient satisfaction with clinicians in colorectal 2-week wait clinics

To determine if patient satisfaction is affected by the clinician (nurse or doctor), conducting the colorectal 2-week wait (2ww) clinics.

A prospective non-randomised comparative cohort study of 339 consecutive patients (divided by blind allocation into nurse-led (n=216) and doctor-led (n=123) cohorts) conducted over a 3-month period. Patient satisfaction in both cohorts was assessed by an adapted version of the Grogan et al validated patient satisfaction questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted first and was found to have high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.91).

The study had a response rate of 78% (n=258/331) and overall satisfaction scores showed 85% (n=149/175) of patients in the nurse-led cohort and 65% (n=54/83) of patients in the doctor-led cohort strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the care they received. Mean overall satisfaction scores in the two cohorts revealed that the nurse-led cohort achieved significantly more 'strongly agree' responses than the doctor-led cohort (p<0.001, CI: 95%). Further analysis of the responses to each question demonstrated statistical significance when comparing the two cohorts.

The study offered patients the opportunity to reflect on service delivery enabling a more responsive approach to health care within the colorectal 2ww service. It found that patient satisfaction was affected by the clinician conducting the 2ww clinic, in that the nurse-led cohort displayed significantly higher patient satisfaction. However, there are areas that merit further research.