30% do not turn up for Mater Dei appointments

A high 30% of patients having an appointment in surgical outpatient clinics at Mater Dei Hospital failed to turn up, according to a study recently published in the Malta Medical Journal.

Of the 266 appointments followed up in the study, 80 patients failed to make a show, representing a 30% non-attendance rate.

Non-attendees were contacted via telephone call and asked to explain their non-attendance, with the main reasons for non-attendance being forgetfulness (53%), and unawareness of the appointment (26%).

6% and 5% of respondents mentioned transport problems and illness. 

Only 1% mentioned anxiety as a reason for not turning up.

90% of those who failed to make a show thought that a text-messaging reminder would have helped them to keep their appointment.

Moreover 97% think that text-messaging reminders would be beneficial to patients.

The aims of the study, conducted by Nathan Edwards, David Cini and Gordon Caruana Dingli from the Department of Surgery, were to ascertain the reasons for non-attendance, and to see whether a text-messaging reminder system would address the problem.

According to the study non-attendance at hospital outpatient clinics can have serious  implications on the health of those who fail to turn up for their appointment, and  deprives other patients of the opportunity to receive timely care.

In 2009 the average non-attendance rate at Mater Dei Hospital was 29%, similar to the 30% rate of non-attendance noted in this present study.

Several studies abroad show that text-messaging reminders are an effective way of reducing non-attendance.

One such study reported a reduction of between 25% and 28% in missed outpatient clinic appointments at four community mental health clinics in London, translating to national cost savings of over £150 million per year.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry welcomed the suggestions made in the study.

Currently, the booking office at the Mater Dei Hospital calls up patients with appointments at the surgical outpatients clinic some time prior to the appointment. The calls are made with the assistance of eight Volserv volunteers. Volserv is an SOS Malta service in partnership with the Health Ministry.