Our Referral Triage service has supported hospital trusts needing additional temporary capacity for referrals. The service uses the expertise of the NHS consultants from our National Consultant Network (NCN) and is available to work through backlogs in bulk or back-up local clinicians (for backlogs and/or new referrals as they come in).
All specialists available are NHS consultants and act as ‘virtual’ consultants, working as part of a local team and are briefed to follow local protocols and pathways.
Key benefits include:
- Manages high volumes quickly
- Follows local pathways
- Results in many referrals being re-prioritised
- Identifies important upgrades as well as downgrades
- Directs referrals to the right service first time
- Communicates all results via e-RS
- Is charged on a per referral basis – no long-term commitments
- 100% outcome reporting
Earlier this year, we wrote about the early results a Trust in the North of England achieved in just two weeks of triaging ENT and Urology waiting lists using the service.
The project was completed a few weeks later, and now we can reveal the impact of the triage work for over 1,000 referrals across ENT and Urology:
25% and 15% of referrals were returned to clinicians in Primary Care with Advice & Guidance for ENT and Urology, respectively. For ENT, 6% of all referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for a consultation, either with or without additional diagnostics. A further 1% of referrals were upgraded to a two-week wait (2WW) pathway. In Urology, 19% of all referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for a consultation, either with or without additional diagnostics. Similarly to ENT, 1% of referrals were upgraded to a two-week wait (2WW) pathway.
A complete list of the Referral Triage statistics for ENT and Urology can be seen below.
Referral Triage for ENT:
- 9% of referrals were accepted into ENT/Audiology
- 4% of referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for a face-to-face consultation without additional diagnostics being needed
- 2% of referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for diagnostics and a telephone consultation
- 17% of referrals were booked into diagnostics, and a face-to-face routine outpatient appointment arranged
- 34% of referrals were booked directly into a routine outpatient appointment, without additional diagnostics needed (face-to-face for 31% of cases and via a telephone consultation for 3%)
- 25% of referrals were returned to clinicians in Primary Care with advice
- 7% of referrals were redirected to another hospital service
- 1% of referrals upgraded to a two-week-wait (2WW) pathway
Referral Triage for Urology:
- 18% of referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for a face-to-face consultation without additional diagnostics needed
- 61% of referrals were booked directly into a routine outpatient appointment, without additional diagnostics needed (face-to-face for 45% of cases and via a telephone consultation for 16%)
- 15% of referrals were returned to clinicians in Primary Care with advice
- 2% of referrals were returned to the local Urology team for further investigation
- 1% of referrals were marked as urgent and prioritised for a face-to-face consultation with additional diagnostics needed
- 1% of referrals were booked in for diagnostics
- 1% of referrals were redirected to another hospital service
- 1% of referrals were upgraded to a two-week-wait (2WW) pathway
* Please note that the sum of the statistics may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Related materials
Referral Triage | Outcomes and Impact
Referral Triage Saves Lives
Referral Triage
National Consultant Network
5mn with… an ENT consultant reducing waiting lists remotely
If you have any questions or would like more information, call us on 01865 261467 or email hello@consultantconnect.org.uk.
