Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Mr Brian Glasser
ORCID ID
Contact details
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Royal Free Hospital
Pond Street
London
NW3 2QG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7794 0500
b.glasser@pcps.ucl.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
RDC00795; NRR ID: N0256032607
Study information
Scientific title
Acronym
Study hypothesis
The 'new referral' out-patient appointment bridges primary and secondary care and has great significance for patient and health services alike, since its purpose is to determine the management of problems for which General Practitioners (GPs) feel referral is necessary. A critical component of the appointment is the exchange of information. The proposed project aims to improve the quality of the exchange by means of the patient bringing a list of questions (prepared with the GP) to the out-patient appointment; with a view to increasing satisfaction levels relating to the consultation.
Ethics approval
Approval obtained from the Trust ethics committee.
Study design
Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Hospitals
Trial type
Treatment
Patient information sheet
Condition
Service provision; referrals; out-patient consultation
Intervention
Sending a help card and accompanying letter to out-patients before their first appointment.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Applicable
Drug names
Primary outcome measures
The help card and accompanying letter help patients to focus on what they wanted to find out during their first out-patient appointment.
Secondary outcome measures
1. The help card and letter give patients 'permission' to ask questions
2. The help card and letter encourage patients to prepare questions in advance
3. The help card helps patients to remember questions during the consultation
Overall trial start date
01/02/1997
Overall trial end date
01/04/1998
Reason abandoned
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Patients over the age of 16
2. New referrals
3. Referred by a participating GP for a gynaecology, dermatology or orthopaedics apppointment
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
1077
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Patients under the age of 16
2. Repeat referrals
3. Patients not referred by a participating GP for a gynaecology, dermatology or orthopaedics apppointment
Recruitment start date
01/02/1997
Recruitment end date
01/04/1998
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
London
NW3 2QG
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
NHS R&D Regional Programme Register - Department of Health (UK)
Sponsor details
The Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NL
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7307 2622
dhmail@doh.gsi.org.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
NHS Executive London (UK)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Results - basic reporting
Publication summary
1999 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14528573
Publication citations
-
Results
Fleissig A, Glasser B, Lloyd M, Encouraging out-patients to make the most of their first hospital appointment: to what extent can a written prompt help patients get the information they want?, Patient Educ Couns, 1999, 38, 1, 69-79.