Analysis of patient demographics and attendance at a Far North Queensland public dermatology outpatient clinic

Abstract

There is limited literature focussing on the demographics of patients presenting to public dermatology outpatient clinics, with an even smaller amount focussing on clinics in regional Australia. This study presents the first patient demographic analysis for the Cairns Hospital's Dermatology Outpatient Department and analyses the cohort of patients who did not attend their appointments. In doing so, it recommends potential strategies that should be considered to address the issues of patient absenteeism and wait times in a regional setting, while also suggesting future data points that should be collected for analysis.