Waiting for Help: Wait times at the CAMH Bridging Clinic

Waiting for Help: Wait times at the CAMH Bridging Clinic

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Bridging Clinic provides essential mental health services to patients newly discharged from the CAMH ED or in-patient units (Building a Bridge to Emergency Care, n.d.). To provide low barrier access to these services, the clinic offers drop-in appointments to patients on a first-come, first-serve basis (The CAMH Bridging Service, 2019). Due to the nature of this model, the amount of time a patient spends waiting to see a clinician can vary greatly. A current state analysis conducted by our team revealed that patients can wait from as little as five minutes up to eight hours. Inefficiencies related to wait times can negatively impact clinicians' satisfaction with the care they provide and is reported to be an issue by both Bridging Clinic patients and staff. Our project aims to reduce the number of inefficiencies clinicians experience related to wait times to improve their satisfaction with the care they provide. Utilizing the principles of Quality Improvement (QI), we will identify, implement, and evaluate specific change ideas or interventions, that address the root causes of inefficiencies related to wait times.

Capstone Supervisor:

Prof. Joseph Ferenbok

PhD

Translational Research Program, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Revolutionary Translator, Director