Why the wait?: A new approach to community occupational therapy waiting list management

This paper reports on a quality improvement initiative that aimed to review the provision of services and establish more effective utilisation of community occupational therapy resources to ensure a sustainable service, better outcomes for clients and the well-being of the occupational therapists. A business process re-engineering model was used to centralise systems and thereby release clinical occupational therapy time in the community to client care. Direct time with clients increased, longest wait decreased, and both average and median wait times were reduced. The initiative has surpassed expectations with services improved across the region and a more equitable service provided.