A phenomenological study of patients' experiences of an orthopaedic preadmission clinic

Preadmission clinics are seen by healthcare professionals as an important part of patients' preoperative experience. Economic benefits, through reducing length of stay postoperatively, have been realized. Relatively little research exists which informs healthcare professionals of the patients view of such clinics. Such feedback from the patients has the potential to provide important evaluative data which can be used to inform future preadmission clinics.

This paper presents the findings from a small qualitative study conducted in a total hip replacement preadmission clinic in an independent hospital. Phenomenological interviews were undertaken with ten patients who attended a preadmission clinic.

The findings were used by the multidisciplinary team comprising of senior clinicians within the preadmission clinic, and a number of recommendations were made and implemented to improve the clinic. Further analysis of the data also led to the team appreciating the value of the clinic for boosting patients' confidence so that they could make informed choices about their care.