Publication: Outpatients count

More patients are being seen in outpatient departments as the NHSS strives to become more patient centred and to deliver care in more flexible ways. This report shows that, based on the findings of a week long census, there are at least 10 million attendances at outpatient clinics in a year.

However many of these are not being recorded adequately. The report says national information systems are lagging behind the new trend for clinics to be led by other professionals such as nurses and physiotherapists. Existing national returns are inadequate to identify the resources required to provide outpatient clinics or even to identify the demand for these clinics.