Are Skin Lesion Superclinics Associated With Decision Fatigue? A Controlled, Observational Study.

Skin cancer superclinics have been proposed as an innovative solution to current capacity shortfalls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this model was associated with decision fatigue. Consecutive patients with suspected skin cancer who attended a superclinic in 2022 were compared with those seen by the same clinician in standard clinics. Proxy markers of decision fatigue were cancer pickup rates and proportion of patients discharged without histology following initial clinic visit. 100/345 (29.0%) patients seen in superclinics had an ultimate diagnosis of skin malignancy, vs. 161/588 (27.4%) seen in standard clinic (p=0.598). 162 (47.0%) of superclinic patients were discharged without intervention vs. 294 (50.0%%) of patients in the standard clinic group (p=0.369). The superclinic model did not appear to be associated with decision fatigue in the one clinician studied and proved a safe and effective means of providing clinical care, improving capacity and delivering training.