Paediatric outpatient clinics: A unique case for expanded clinic provision?

The underlying reasons behind whether a child attends an outpatient appointment are multifactorial involving several individuals including the child, parent and wider family. Non-attendance at the children's outpatient clinics can be as high as 20%. By offering patient and parents convenient appointment times, non-attendance rates may decrease. We delivered a survey of appointment preferences to parents attending paediatric ophthalmology clinics at Bristol Eye Hospital. From the survey, the most popular times to attend clinic were Saturday daytime and Monday to Friday late afternoon (16:30–18:30) with 58% and 48%, respectively choosing these options. Evening appointments throughout the week proved unpopular and only 26% were willing to attend on a Sunday evening. Subgroup analysis by age revealed that parental preferences alter as the child grows older and that evening appointments become more attractive to parents of secondary school-aged children. For all age groups, early morning appointments (08:30–10...