Chalder, Melanie, Montgomery, Alan, Hollinghurst, Sandra, Cooke, Matthew, MB ChB, Munro, James F., Lattimer, Val, Sharp, D. (Deborah) and Salisbury, Chris. (2007) Comparing care at walk-in centres and at accident and emergency departments: an exploration of patient choice, preference and satisfaction. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol.24 (No.4). pp. 260-264. ISSN 1472-0205

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Abstract

Objectives: To explore the impact of establishing walk-in centres alongside emergency departments on patient choice, preference and satisfaction. Methods: A controlled, mixed-method study comparing eight emergency departments with co-located walk-in centres with the same number of ‘traditional’ emergency departments. This paper focuses on the results of a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of users. Results: Survey data demonstrated that patients were frequently unable to distinguish between being treated at a walk-in centre or an A&E department, and even where this was the case, opportunities to exercise choice about their preferred care provider were often limited. Few made an active choice to attend a co-located walk-in centre. Patients attending walk-in centres were just as likely to be satisfied overall with the care they received as their counterparts who were treated in the co-located A&E facility, although a small proportion of walk-in centre users did report greater satisfaction with some specific aspects of their care and consultation. Conclusions: Whilst one of the key policy goals underpinning the co-location of walk-in centres next to an A&E department was to provide patients with more options for accessing healthcare and greater choice, leading in turn to increased satisfaction, this evaluation was able to provide little evidence to support this. The high percentage of patients expressing a preference for care in an established emergency department compared to a new walk-in centre facility raises questions for future policy development. Further consideration should therefore be given to the role that A&E focused walk-in centres play in the Department of Health’s current policy agenda, as far as patient choice is concerned.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Emergency medical services -- Great Britain, Triage (Medicine) -- Great Britain, Primary care (Medicine) -- Great Britain, Health services accessibility -- Great Britain, Patients -- Attitudes
Journal or Publication Title:	Emergency Medicine Journal
Publisher:	BMJ Group
ISSN:	1472-0205
Date:	April 2007
Volume:	Vol.24
Number:	No.4
Page Range:	pp. 260-264
Identification Number:	10.1136/emj.2006.042499
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Great Britain. Dept. of Health (DoH)
References:	[1] Creating a patient-led NHS – delivering the NHS improvement plan, 2005, London, Department of Health [2] Better information, better choices, better health, 2004, London, Department of Health [3] Building on the Best: choice, responsiveness and equity in the NHS, 2003, London, Department of Health [4] The impact of NHS walk-in centres on Emergency Departments (submitted to EMJ) Salisbury C, Hollinghurst S, Montgomery A, Cooke M, Munro J, Sharp D, Chalder M, [5] NHS Acute Trust Emergency Department Survey 2003
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3168

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