ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2004
Open-access versus bookable appointment systems: survey of patients attending appointments with general practitioners.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Advanced access scheduling outcomes: a systematic review.Archives of internal medicine · 2011Pooled it
- Access systems in general practice: a systematic scoping review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Expressing uncertainty in clinical interactions between physicians and older patients: what matters?Patient education and counseling · 2012Article
- The effect of the new GMS contract on GP appointment provision in Wales: postal questionnaire survey of practice managers.BMC research notes · 2008Article
- Impact of same-day appointments on patient satisfaction with general practice appointment systems.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008Article
- Making general practice fit for the 21st century.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2005Article
- Impact of advanced access.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2004Article
- Does advanced access work for patients and practices?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2004Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Access to consultations with general practitioners (GPs) is an important health policy issue. One method of providing 24-hour access is through the provision of open-access surgeries. The study aimed to compare patients' perceptions of 'bookable' and 'non-bookable' (open-access) appointments. A cross-sectional survey design was used and recruited 834 patients in a general practice. There were statistically significant differences between the bookable and the non-bookable appointments for the questions on 'choice of doctor', 'whether able to see the doctor in the time they needed to', and 'convenience of the appointment'. More patients with bookable appointments saw their doctor of choice. One-fifth of patients, equally distributed between the two groups, did not feel that they were seen within the time they needed to be. Almost three-fifths of patients, equally distributed between the two groups, reported that it was either 'easy' or 'very easy' to make the appointment. Greater convenience was reported by those with bookable appointments. These findings support the hypothesis that within a single practice, there is scope for a combined appointment system in which patients can self-select, with equal satisfaction, the type of appointment that they prefer, dependent upon their own preferences or needs at the time.
Indexed as
Identifiers
15113521PMC1266172What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.