Survey on consultation length and waiting time of community general practice clinics / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To survey the consultation length and waiting time of general practice clinics in community health service centers(CHSC).Methods Three CHSCs were selected from urban areas,urban-rural junction and rural areas Beijing Chaoyang District.The length of consultation,waiting time and the satisfaction of patients were surveyed by self-designed questionnaires among 373 patients visiting these three CHSCs between July to August 2018.Results In 364 patients who completed the questionnaire 69.0％(251/364) had a consultation length between 5 to 10 min,and the proportion of consultation length＜ 5 min was the highest (27.9％) in urban-rural junction.The waiting time was＜5 min in 43.7％ patients (159/364),only 9.3％ of patients waited for＞30 min.The proportion of patients with waiting＜5 min was the lowest (20.7％) in urban area.The distribution of consultion length was different among groups of the reason of consultion,frequently seen doctor and the familarity with the doctor(P＜0.05).Most patients were satisfied with the length of consultation (85.4％) and waiting time (74.5％).The satisfaction of patients in urban areas with the consultation length (75.2％) and waiting time (49.6％) was lower than that in urban-rural junction and rural areas.Conclusion The consultation length in general practice clinics of CHSC is relatively short,but patients are basically satisfied with the current status of consultation length and waiting time.However,consultation length and wating time should be regularly monitared,to promote the quality of care in general practice clinics.