BMJ 1995;310:818-819 (1 April)

Editorials

Queues for cure?

Let's add appropriateness to the equation

If waiting were a disease it would be one of the commonest and least studied diseases in England. There were 628800 people on an inpatient waiting list and 442300 people on a day case waiting list in England on 30 September 1994.1 Of these, 7% and 4% respectively had waited more than one year. The first assumption made by politicians--irrespective of political colour2--and therefore inherited by managers is that being on a waiting list is a measure of need. One study even defined need in such terms.3 The second assumption concerns a dose-response relation: the longer the wait the greater the need. Consequently, initiatives to reduce waiting lists tend to act as if it is the long wait itself that warrants treatment.

The patient's charter enshrines the right to admission for treatment within two years of being put on a waiting list. It . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Hemingway, H, Crook, A M, Banerjee, S, Dawson, J R, Feder, G, Magee, P G, Wood, A, Philpott, S, Timmis, A (2001). Hypothetical ratings of coronary angiography appropriateness: are they associated with actual angiographic findings, mortality, and revascularisation rate? The ACRE study. Heart 85: 672-679 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Elwyn, G. J., Williams, L A, Barry, S., Kinnersley, P. (1996). Waiting list management in general practice: a review of orthopaedic patients. BMJ 312: 887-888 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Newton, J. N, Henderson, J., Goldacre, M. J (1995). Waiting list dynamics and the impact of earmarked funding. BMJ 311: 783-785 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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