Case studies

Bolton PCT

Category: 2.5. Telephone consultations

Bolton

In 1987, a telephone consultation study was conducted in a Bolton practice of 14,000 patients. A dedicated telephone advice line staffed by doctors was set up. They took 277 calls in the five-month study period. Each call lasted about three minutes. In a post-study questionnaire:

• 75% of the patients who responded said they would have made an appointment if they hadn’t been able to call.
• 13% would have requested a home visit.
• 91% of respondents were satisfied with the advice line.
• Doctors in the practice thought that 64% of the calls were useful.