AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD BUT PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL OR ENGAGEMENT - IMPROVING OUTPATIENT-CLINIC OPERATIONS

We undertook a study to improve the running of hospital outpatient cli nics that were regularly overbooked, overrun, and had excessive patien t waiting times. The methodology adopted entailed a mixture of qualita tive and quantitative approaches, but was problem-driven and so only e merged as the project developed. We generated a number of proposals fo r the improved running of the clinics during the project, some impleme nted and some not. For future studies we would recommend that a flexib le and open-minded approach is adopted. This may well involve an initi al, mainly qualitative, study followed by the application of a series of modest models-occasionally more sophisticated modeling may be appro priate. We would also recommend that the benefits of such studies are not judged solely in terms of one-off implementation leading to measur able improvements in performance. They should also be seen as part of an overall process of improving health care practices.