Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Log out

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Original Paper - Full-length version

User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres

Joanne Coster, Alicia O'Cathain, Jon Nicholl and Chris Salisbury
British Journal of General Practice 2009; 59 (569): e390-e393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp09X473169
Joanne Coster
Roles: Research Associate
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alicia O'Cathain
Roles: Senior Research Fellow
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jon Nicholl
Roles: Professor Of Health Services Research, Director MCRU Policy Research Programme, Deputy Dean
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Chris Salisbury
Roles: Professor of Primary Health Care
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Pilot commuter walk-in centres have been located close to national rail stations in major English cities, provided by private healthcare companies for the NHS, and offering access to doctors and nurses. This study used a survey to evaluate user satisfaction levels with this new service. Thirty-three per cent (1828/5574) of users completed a questionnaire. Centres demonstrated high levels of user satisfaction (69% ‘very satisfied’, 95% confidence interval = 58% to 79%) overall, but satisfaction was lower for some aspects of care such as waiting times.

  • evaluation studies
  • health policy
  • primary health care
  • patient satisfaction

INTRODUCTION

There are currently over 80 walk-in centres in England, located in a variety of settings, most of which offer a nurse-led service. A national evaluation of 40 walk-in centres found that 80% of users were ‘very satisfied’ with the service received.1 In 2004 the government announced a pilot of seven walk-in centres specifically aimed at people travelling to work by train. These commuter walk-in centres have different aims, and client groups who may have different experiences and satisfaction. In particular, short waiting times may be more important to commuters. As part of a wider evaluation of commuter walk-in centres, reported in an accompanying paper,2 satisfaction levels with this new service were measured.

METHOD

A survey was undertaken to determine how the centres were used and satisfaction with different aspects of care. A user questionnaire was developed, based on one used in the evaluation of general walk-in centres and interviews of users of the new service.1 The questionnaire had two parts: the first part, for completion before the consultation, covered reasons for using the walk-in centre, commuting status, and sociodemographic details; the second part, for completion after the consultation, covered waiting time, treatment, referral, and satisfaction. The intention was to ask 600 users in each centre to complete a questionnaire, totalling 3600. Six ‘questionnaire days’ were selected, when reception staff would hand a questionnaire to all attendees that day. On these days reception staff were asked to give every user an information sheet, questionnaire, and reply-paid envelope. Responders could choose to return the completed questionnaire to a box in the reception or post it back to the research team in a reply-paid envelope. No reminders were sent to non-responders. In practice, there were between 10 and 14 ‘questionnaire days’ in each centre, mainly due to lower than expected numbers using the service.2

Responses were entered into SPSS (version 14) for analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all survey questions, and comparisons made between individual centres. Differences between centres were tested using χ2 for proportions. Clustering by centre was taken into account when calculating 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for key estimates, by using the ‘regress’ command with the ‘cluster’ option in STATA (version 9.2).

RESULTS

Response rate

Routine data from the centres on numbers of users was not available due to commercial sensitivity. Therefore, response rates were calculated based on reports by thecentre staff of numbers attending; it was estimated there were 5574 users of the service on the ‘questionnaire days’. Of these, 3160 (57%) were given, and accepted, a questionnaire. A total of 1828/3160 questionnaires were completed, giving a response rate of 58%. The response rate varied between centres and two had a response rate of over 70%. Overall, only 33% of users completed a questionnaire. Item-response rates reduced for later items on the questionnaire because some responders did not complete the whole questionnaire. Service characteristics and users are described in the accompanying paper.2

Reasons for using the commuter walk-in centres

The questionnaire asked for the main reasons for attending the service that day (Figure 1). The two most frequent reasons were convenience of the service and that it was quicker to get an appointment than in general practice. Only 12% (225/1815) of survey responders reported that they used it because they travelled to work, whereas 40% (726/1815) used it because they worked. If the service had not been available, 54% (918/1703) of users reported they would have visited their general practice and 11% (196/1703) an emergency department, while 15% (258/1703) would have looked after the problem themselves.

Figure 1
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Figure 1

Main reasons for choosing commuter walk-in centre rather than elsewhere (n = 1815).

Experience

Most users (80%, 1203/1500) reported that they were seen within 30 minutes; 47% (655/1390) of users reported being treated by a doctor, or by both a doctor and a nurse. Most users (77%, 1174/1524) reported receiving advice and information about their health problems, 34% (515/1524) reported obtaining a prescription, and 10% (159/1524) were referred on to their GP. Sixty-two per cent (950/1524) of users felt that the doctor or nurse had dealt with their problem totally; 50% (735/1474) of users intended to self-care on leaving the centre and 25% (365/1474) intended to go to their GP.

How this fits in

Walk-in centres are part of primary care provision in England. Centres specifically for commuters were piloted. User were satisfied overall with care but were less satisfied with waiting times.

Satisfaction

Overall satisfaction was high, with 69% (95% CI = 58% to 79%) of users very satisfied with the service overall (Table 1). There was variation in satisfaction with different aspects of care, with responders being least satisfied with the time they waited to see the doctor or nurse, and most satisfied with the attitude of the nurse or doctor treating them.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 1

User satisfaction levels with different aspects of care (n = 1587).

Variation between centres

There was variation between individual centres in relation to the type of health professional seen by patients (P = 0.001), waiting times (P = 0.001), and satisfaction with waiting times (P = 0.001). Centre ‘B’ in particular was different from the other centres, in terms of both service offered and satisfaction. This centre had a very low rate of reported doctor use (9%, 20/216) compared with the other centres (54%, 635/1174), and also referred more patients to their GP (19%, 44/237) than the other centres (9%, 115/1284) (Table 2). Fewer patients using centre ‘B’ felt that their problem had been totally dealt with (Table 3). Twenty-four per cent (56/233) of users in centre ‘B’ reported waiting more than 40 minutes, compared to 7% of all other users (92/1267) (Table 4), and 15% (37/241) of users in centre ‘B’ reported dissatisfaction with the time they waited, compared to 4% (50/1304) dissatisfied for all other centres. Centre ‘B’ also performed less well than the other centres on most aspects of satisfaction (Table 5), and only 51% of users of centre ‘B’ (123/239) stated they would definitely return to use the centre again, compared with 69% (897/1298) in other centres.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 2

Treatment received at the commuter walk-in centres.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 3

Percentage receiving definitive care at commuter walk-in centre.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 4

Reported waiting time and satisfaction with waiting times.

View this table:
  • View inline
  • View popup
Table 5

Percentage of users ‘very satisfied’ with different aspects of the commuter walk-in centres.

DISCUSSION

Summary of main findings

People used commuter walk-in centres because they were convenient and it was quicker to get an appointment than at a GP surgery. Users appeared satisfied with the centres overall, but were least satisfied with waiting times. Not all centres functioned in the same way, with one centre appearing to have lower satisfaction levels than the others.

Strengths and limitations of the study

The exact number of people using the service was unavailable due to lack of access to routine data. Sampling bias may have been introduced, as some receptionist staff did not give surveys to patients they considered were too ill or did not speak English. The response rate was lower than intended and this may have introduced non-response bias. A particular concern is that users who were in a hurry did not complete the questionnaire.

Comparison with existing literature

The percentage of patients who were very satisfied with this service was lower than for general walk-in centres:1 69% versus 80%. A key characteristic of this service was access to a doctor. Although 47% of users overall saw a doctor, one centre operated more like a general walk-in centre, where 87% of users normally consulted a nurse.1 Similar proportions of users intended to visit a GP compared with general walk-in centres (25% versus 32% respectively),1 or to attend an emergency department (6% versus 7%).1

Implications for clinical practice

The walk-in centres made access to care easier for some patients. Patient satisfaction levels were high enough to maintain future use. Waiting time was a key issue, and any increases could affect user satisfaction in the future.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Martina Santarelli for her assistance in setting up the study.

Notes

Funding body

This work was undertaken by the Medical Care Research Unit, which is supported by the Department of Health (017/0045). The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Health

Ethics approval

Ethics approval was given by Brighton East LREC (07/Q1907/22)

Competing interests

The authors have stated that there are none

Discuss this article

Contribute and read comments about this article on the Discussion Forum: http://www.rcgp.org.uk/bjgp-discuss

  • Received March 12, 2009.
  • Revision received August 7, 2009.
  • Accepted September 8, 2009.
  • © British Journal of General Practice, 2009.

REFERENCES

  1. ↵
    1. Salisbury C,
    2. Manku-Scott T,
    3. Moore L,
    4. et al.
    (2002) Questionnaire survey of users of NHS walk-in centres: observational study. Br J Gen Pract 52(480):554–560.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  2. ↵
    1. O'Cathain A,
    2. Coster J,
    3. Salisbury C,
    4. et al.
    (2009) Do walk-in centres for commuters work? A mixed methods evaluation. Br J Gen Pract 59:10.3399/bjgp09X473150.
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 59 (569)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 59, Issue 569
December 2009
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Download PowerPoint
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres
Joanne Coster, Alicia O'Cathain, Jon Nicholl, Chris Salisbury
British Journal of General Practice 2009; 59 (569): e390-e393. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp09X473169

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres
Joanne Coster, Alicia O'Cathain, Jon Nicholl, Chris Salisbury
British Journal of General Practice 2009; 59 (569): e390-e393. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp09X473169
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • METHOD
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • Notes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • evaluation studies
  • health policy
  • primary health care
  • patient satisfaction

More in this TOC Section

  • Advance care planning for cancer patients in primary care: a feasibility study
  • Non-pharmacological intervention for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in primary care
  • Self-monitoring and other non-pharmacological interventions to improve the management of hypertension in primary care: a systematic review
Show more Original Paper - Full-length version

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2022 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242