Objective: To analyse frequency of attendance at a Unit of Compliance with Chronic Prescriptions (UCCP) within a Health Centre (HC).
Design: A prospective study with a six-year follow-up period 1986-1992.
Setting: The study was carried out at the Florida HC, Alicante, which covers an urban population of about 20,000 inhabitants.
Patients and other participants: The population under study were those patients who needed pharmacological treatment for a period longer than three months. The criteria of evaluation were: attendances and prescriptions dispensed at the UCCP, patient attendances avoided and time saved in medical consultations.
Measurements and main results: In 1986 there were 8,512 attendances at the UCCP (13.53% of the Centre's total attendance of 62,889), rising in 1992 to 12,884 (20.43% of the Centre's total of 63,078). In 1986 there were 18,000 prescriptions dispensed at the UCCP (16.38% of the Centre's total of 109,900) and in 1992, 41,500 (25.94% of the Centre's total of 160,000). The amount of time for medical consultations saved in the different years of the study ranged between 155 hours in 1986 and 536 in 1992. The index of prescriptions per attendance at the UCCP went up from 2.11 in 1986 to 3.22 in 1992. The index of attendances per patient and year was 12.09 in 1986 and 7.82 in 1992.
Conclusions: A centralized unit for compliance with chronic treatments lessens the frequency of attendance for medical consultations, improves the patient's access renewed treatment and leads to a considerable saving in care time.