Dixon K, Thomas M, Ali A H, Patel R, Foley E
University of Southampton Medical School, Southampton, UK.
Int J STD AIDS. 2012 Aug;23(8):544-5. doi: 10.1258/ijsa.2012.011306.
A unique feature of genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics is that patients can book appointments themselves. The aim of this study was to assess how long it takes and the barriers that exist when making an appointment in a UK GU medicine clinic. Male and female researchers recorded the number of attempts needed to make a successful contact, how the call was dealt with, and the time taken for the call to be initially answered and then completed; 72% (479/666) of the telephone contacts were answered on the first attempt (range: 1-17). The median length of the total call was one minute 51 seconds (range: 15 seconds to eight minutes, six seconds) but male callers took a mean of 40 seconds longer to complete a call (P < 0.001), reflecting additional and often intrusive questions they were asked compared with female researchers. Care should be taken to ensure that the first point of contact with a clinic is favourable as it reflects on how an entire service may be perceived.
泌尿生殖医学诊所的一个独特之处在于患者可以自行预约。本研究的目的是评估在英国泌尿生殖医学诊所预约所需的时间以及存在的障碍。男性和女性研究人员记录了成功接通所需的尝试次数、电话的处理方式以及首次接听和通话结束所需的时间；72%（479/666）的电话联系在首次尝试时就得到了接听（范围：1 - 17次）。总通话时长的中位数为1分51秒（范围：15秒至8分6秒），但男性来电者完成通话的平均时间要长40秒（P < 0.001），这反映出与女性研究人员相比，他们被问到的额外且常常具有侵扰性的问题更多。应注意确保与诊所的首次接触是良好的，因为这会影响人们对整个服务的看法。
