CORK UNIVERSITY Hospital (CUH) is changing its outpatients appointment system from today in a bid to improve the service.
The hospital’s outpatient departments will operate a timed appointment system only. All those attending the outpatients departments will be seen in order of their appointment time and not on a first-come first-served basis.
The system has operated on a first-come first-served basis, although every patient is given an appointment time. This system has resulted in large numbers of patients arriving before their appointment time, resulting in patients being in the clinic for up to three hours for a 10 – 15 minute consultation. Hospital management claim the new system will ensure a better service for patients by minimising delays and ensuring the clinics run more efficiently.
CUH is one of the largest acute hospitals in the Republic, catering for approximately 135,000 outpatient appointments each year.
Tony McNamara, general manager, CUH, said all clinics differed according to their specialities and depending on the clinic, there could be up to five patients per appointment time. He said this was the first step in achieving greater efficiency and increased quality of service.