Waiting times in a tertiary paediatric nephrology clinic.

BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, paediatric nephrology waiting times have not been previously studied. Given the high incidence of new referrals each year, the evaluation of the current waiting times would be beneficial in the management and triaging of new appointments. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using descriptive statistics, data from all appropriate paediatric nephrology referrals to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (Ottawa, Ontario) from 2003 to 2005 (n=1446) were retrospectively analyzed.
RESULTS: The median waiting time from receipt of initial request for referral to first appointment was 111 days (range zero to 364 days). No significant variation existed throughout the duration of the study, despite the variation in the number of paediatric nephrology staff. Infants were seen significantly sooner than older children. There were no assigned priority classification levels based on referral reason. Critical conditions, such as macrohematuria, were seen on an urgent basis; all other patients were seen at the next available appointment slot, which was usually four months away. A significant proportion of patients were referred for dysfunctional voiding and enuresis (25.9%). These diagnoses are not generally considered a part of core nephrology.
CONCLUSION: The waiting times for a paediatric nephrology appointment are long. Focusing on core nephrology business and appropriate triaging of consult would be necessary to implement a priority classification level-based appointment assignment. Additional resources would allow for more patients to be seen in a more timely fashion.