Non‐attendance and invitation methods within a CBT service

Non‐attendance for first appointments in primary care mental health services represents a major service delivery challenge. Previous research identified how invitation type can influence attendance rates and a localised study was therefore carried out to examine the most effective invitation method and to inform local service guidelines. This exploratory study aims to consider the rate of non‐attendance to assessment for clients referred for psychological therapy in relation to invitation type.

In total, 521 invitations to initial assessment were sent over a three month period with clients being drawn from a rolling waiting list of referrals and invited to attend initial assessment by letter, telephone, or telephone with a telephone reminder. Non‐attendance rates were examined and findings compared across invitation type.

The study concluded that telephone invitations followed by a telephone prompting reminder significantly reduced non‐attendance to initial assessment appointments.

The findings highlight how using phone based invitation to assessment with a phone reminder can increase attendance rates and improve service efficiencies locally and more widely. There were several limitations to the research project including key variables not included or controlled for which it is felt may have biased the findings and the small effect size.

The findings of the present study extend and build on previous research in the area of attendance, particularly in relation to the provision of localised evidence from which to develop and improve local, national and international service delivery.