A qualitative study of staff perspectives of patient non-attendance in a regional primary healthcare setting.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Non-attendance at health appointments reduces health service efficiency, is costly to services, and can risk patient health. Reminder systems are widely used to overcome forgetfulness, the most common reason for non-attendance; however, other factors, such as patient demographics and service accessibility, may also affect attendance rates. AIMS: There is limited primary research on the reasons for patient non-attendance in the Australian healthcare setting, although the success of preventative health initiatives requires ongoing monitoring of patients. This study aims to improve our understanding of the Australian experience by examining staff perspectives. METHOD: This qualitati..