Reducing the follow‐up rates over three consecutive specialist registrar trainees placements

Dear Editor, A modern National Health Service hospital needs to be efficient in order to see new referrals and follow-up patients promptly and appropriately. Government set targets have put pressure on hospitals to become more efficient and see and treat patients within a fixed time. Reducing follow-up attendances in outpatient clinics saves resources and potentially allowsmore new patients to be seen earlier. In addition, avoiding an unnecessary trip back to the hospital may be more convenient for patients. Therefore, unnecessary follow-ups need to be minimised. Follow-up rates may depend on the grade of the clinician. Consultants have been shown to have a lower follow-up rate compared to their trainees. Trainees may have difficulty discharging patients or making a definitemanagement decision.We previously undertook a retrospective review which demonstrated that there is potential to reduce the follow-up rates of trainees significantly using appropriate education and monitoring by their training consultant. This study moves on to evaluating the effectiveness of methods used to reduce unnecessary followups in clinics run by specialist registrar trainees.