Integrated Marketing Communications: Practice Leads Theory

TLDR

To assess equity of access to paediatric outpatient clinics in our hospital. Retrospective analysis of consecutive referrals to eight paediatric outpatient clinics from 32,369 new patients between April 2007 and June 2018. Local outpatient referrals mirrored the socioeconomic distribution of the local population, but tertiary clinics had a higher proportion of patients from affluent areas, indicating referral inequalities that warrant evaluation across networks.

Abstract

<h3>Objective</h3> To assess equity of access to paediatric outpatient clinics in our hospital. <h3>Design/setting</h3> Retrospective analysis of consecutive accepted referrals to allergy, asthma, epilepsy, general paediatrics, rapid access, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes and endocrine outpatient clinics. <h3>Patients</h3> 32 369 new patients, April 2007 to June 2018. <h3>Results</h3> Among local patients (58.1%) 0.2%–2.5% of patients referred to each clinic lived in the least deprived quintile, and 43.5%–48.4% in the most deprived quintile—similar to inpatient admissions and the local population. Tertiary clinics showed a much higher proportion of patients from the least deprived quintiles (15.9%–26.2%). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Local outpatient referrals broadly reflected the socioeconomic distribution, although not necessarily the distribution of need, of our local population. A relatively high proportion of patients in tertiary clinics were from more affluent postcodes, highlighting the need for referral inequalities to be evaluated across networks or regions.