• Georgina H Frew, Isaac Abraham, Denise Lancaster, Paul J H Drake, and Jackie A Cassell.
• Burns Unit, Queen Victoria Hospital, Holtye Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 3DZ, UK; Primary Care & Public Health Department, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Watson Building, Falmer, BN1 9PH, UK. Electronic address: georgie.frew@doctors.org.uk.
• Burns. 2020 Aug 1; 46 (5): 1066-1072.

AbstractAn evaluation of the patient experience, from referral to first assessment, at an outpatient emergency burns assessment service in a UK burn unit. All patients attending their first appointment were invited to complete a questionnaire, covering patient expectations following referral, their journey to the hospital and an evaluation of the appointment. Process mapping was used to map the patient journey within the department and identify functional bottlenecks and waits. 35 new patients completed the questionnaire over a four-week period in February 2019. 70% of respondents had received no printed information about their condition or the hospital prior to the appointment and 28% of patients did not know what to expect from attending the clinic. Patients incurred high direct and indirect costs in order to attend their appointments. 86% patients felt more confident about looking after their injury following their appointment. The patient journey through the clinic was observed for 19 patients; four functional bottlenecks were identified. The longest waits were for clinical photography and completion of nursing paperwork. A multimodal approach to this quality improvement project has enabled the service to identify process bottlenecks and through consultation with stakeholders, develop staff training and patient information to improve the service.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

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