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Reducing Non-Attendance Rates for Assessment at an Eating Disorders Service: A Quality Improvement Initiative

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Abstract

Rates of non-attendance at initial appointments within community eating disorder (ED) services are frequently high, although this has received relatively little research attention and no reports of interventions designed to address this. The current report describes outcomes following a change of procedure introducing a ‘partial booking’ system. Attendance rates at first appointments (N = 1260) were audited following introduction of a system designed to reduce non-attendance in January 2013 within a UK ED service. Rates were compared following implementation of the new system, using a historical control group for comparison, and showed a decline from 20.4 to 15.1%, a medium-sized effect. Use of a system asking patients to book an appointment reduced non-attendance at initial appointments and may be of use to similar services experiencing high non-attendance rates. Opt-in initiatives can reduce burden resulting from long waiting times and can be easily adapted to individual services.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank all the staff involved in supporting this project.

Funding

This work was supported by resources and the use of facilities within Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Paul E. Jenkins

  2. Cotswold House Eating Disorders Service, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Warneford Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK

    Paul E. Jenkins

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  1. Paul E. Jenkins
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Correspondence to Paul E. Jenkins.

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Jenkins, P.E. Reducing Non-Attendance Rates for Assessment at an Eating Disorders Service: A Quality Improvement Initiative. Community Ment Health J 53, 878–882 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0118-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0118-7

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