Organization of French outpatient psychiatric clinics and delay to appointment

Antoine Lamer; Fanny Carette; Héléna Mobi; Isabelle Warembourg; Alina Amariei; Chloé Saint-Dizier; Maxime Bubrovszky

doi:10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.005

Organization of French outpatient psychiatric clinics and delay to appointment

Encephale. 2023 Nov 30:S0013-7006(23)00201-4. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.005. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Antoine Lamer¹, Fanny Carette², Héléna Mobi², Isabelle Warembourg³, Alina Amariei³, Chloé Saint-Dizier², Maxime Bubrovszky⁴

Affiliations

¹ Fédération régionale de recherche en santé mentale et psychiatrie, Hauts-de-France, France; Faculté ingénierie et management de la santé, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France; Univ. Lille, CHU de Lille, ULR 2694 - METRICS: évaluation des technologies de santé et des pratiques médicales, 59000 Lille, France.
² Fédération régionale de recherche en santé mentale et psychiatrie, Hauts-de-France, France; Faculté ingénierie et management de la santé, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France.
³ Fédération régionale de recherche en santé mentale et psychiatrie, Hauts-de-France, France.
⁴ Fédération régionale de recherche en santé mentale et psychiatrie, Hauts-de-France, France. Electronic address: maxime.bubrovszky@f2rsmpsy.fr.

PMID: 38040509
DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.09.005

Abstract

Objectives: The goals of the study were to obtain a glimpse of the several types of organization of outpatient psychiatric clinics, as well as an overview of delays between a request for and the first appointment. We also look at geographical variability of appointment scheduling delays and assess the impact of the number of new applications on delays.

Methods: We analyzed information collected from a phone survey conducted with the 103 adult outpatient psychiatric clinics of the French region Hauts-de-France. This survey had a one-week inclusion period in November 2022 and focused on the organization and delays before obtaining an appointment.

Results: This study indicates that organizations seem to be homogeneous. Eighty-one outpatient psychiatric clinics (96.4%) receive with scheduled appointments. The initial evaluation by a nurse followed with a proposal for the organization of care seems to be the common practice. It also appears that primary psychiatric structures were capable of providing a response within a reasonable time frame in making a first appointment with a mental health professional. On the other hand, delays were much longer and heterogeneous for first appointments with psychiatrists and psychologists.

Conclusions: The organizations of the outpatient psychiatric clinics of the French region Hauts-de-France seem homogeneous. The evaluation by a nurse followed with a care proposal is the common practice. Primary psychiatric structures are able to provide a response within a reasonable time, with half the centers proposing an appointment with a nurse within 10.0 days.

Keywords: Care organization; Health facility; Organisation des soins; Outpatient; Psychiatrie; Psychiatry; Soins ambulatoires; Établissement de santé.