Chalder, Melanie, Montgomery, Alan, Hollinghurst, Sandra, Cooke, Matthew (Professor of clinical systems design), 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. doi:10.1136/emj.2006.042499 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 Science, Engineering and Medicine > 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
Official Date:	April 2007
Dates:	Date Event April 2007 Published
Volume:	Vol.24
Number:	No.4
Page Range:	pp. 260-264
DOI:	10.1136/emj.2006.042499
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Funder:	Great Britain. Dept. of Health (DoH)

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