An Evaluation of Initial Non-attendance Rates for Physiotherapy

Abstract

Summary Non-attendance for physiotherapy appointments is, as elsewhere in the health service, a costly problem. This study, based in a physiotherapy department of a District general hospital, monitored non-attendance for initial appointments over seven months, aiming to identify common trends in failure to attend and evaluate the effects of different methods of contact used to make the initial appointments. Details of age and sex, plus source of referral, diagnosis and time spent on the waiting list were noted for each non-attender. Appointments were made in one of three ways — by post, by post with information leaflet included with the appointment card, and by telephone. Results showed that more males than females were likely to fail to attend as were referrals from general practitioner sources compared to consultant; 58% of all non-attenders were 21 to 50 years old. Telephone appointments produced a 4.7% non-attendance rate compared to 8.9% of those appointments made by post.