2023 – Our biggest hits

We released our eight-year ‘anniversary’ report. The data is the most complete record of the impact of Enhanced Advice & Guidance on the NHS. As well as the fact that we are now covering over 40 million patients across the UK, key highlights include:

 

Over 1.4 million Telephone Advice & Guidance calls placed via Consultant Connect, with:

 

• 68% of calls to elective specialties result in the patient avoiding a trip to hospital
• 52% of GP calls to urgent care specialties avoid an admission
• 36% of calls from ambulance staff avoid unnecessary patient conveyances

 

Over 2 million dermatology photos have been taken using our app, with:

 

• 65% of photo message sessions to Dermatology result in the patient avoiding a trip to hospital
• 43% of photos attached to e-RS 2WW referral result in the patient avoiding a trip to hospital

 

Rapid Advice & Guidance means that patients can have the input of a hospital specialist without having to wait for an outpatient appointment or go to A&E. If a patient does need to go to the hospital, though, the specialist will be able to tell the patient’s GP and ensure the patients go to the right team in the right place for their care.

NHSE announced that it would be pushing to make advice a more central feature of the process for referring patients for hospital appointments. This has looked like the direction of travel for the last few years, and there is no doubt that timely advice gets patients the care they need, often directly from their GP – our recently published Benchmarks prove this.

 

This is why we’re pleased to have launched Advice and Refer by Consultant Connect. It links our advice platform, the most used in the NHS, with the e-RS referrals system. It is the easiest, most seamless way to review a patient’s case and, if necessary, refer that patient to a local clinic. Find out more.

Our clinically-led Referral Triage and Validation service has continued to support hospital trusts needing additional temporary capacity for referrals. The service uses the clinical expertise of NHS consultants across 17 specialties from our National Consultant Network (NCN). Working remotely as ‘virtual locums’, they follow local pathways and protocols, and, under the leadership of the local clinical leads, support with triaging and validating waiting list backlogs in bulk and/or new referrals as they come in. They can also be brought in to review and validate follow-up lists to ensure patients are seen/discharged in the most appropriate way (e.g., face-to-face, virtual, discharged to PIFU pathways, etc.).

 

Over 50,000 referrals have been triaged through the service to date, safely reducing waiting lists by as much as a third and even more in some specialties.

Find out more.

In addition to NHS areas being able to procure our services through three NHS frameworks, we’re proud to have achieved new certifications and accreditations in 2023, including:

 

• ISO 9001 UKAS-Accredited
• e-RS API Integration Certified
• Scored 100% on our latest Digital Technology Assessment Criteria for Health and Social Care (DTAC)
• Great Place To Work™ certified company
• UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing™ – Ranking 63 / 100 for small businesses (20-50 employees)
• UK’s Best Workplaces for Women™ – Ranking 78/ 100 for small businesses (20-50 employees)

Find out more.

We recognised the achievements of our NHS colleagues:

 

• ‘Patient Impact: Best Overall Projects 2023’ – find out more about the winners and their stories.
• ‘Special Achievement 2023′ – find out more about the winners and their stories.

We brought the health experts to you in our free online webinars. Our speakers shared their expertise and practical advice on:

 

• Integrating Mental and Physical Healthcare to avoid unnecessary appointments and admissions
• Reduce RTT waiting times through triage and validation | Key learnings
• Increasing Urgent Care capacity | Learnings from NHS leaders across England, Scotland, and Wales

 

You can access all our previous webinar recordings and sign up for future webinars here.

Below are just some of the articles we were featured in:

 

• Watch: Sky News visited South Warwickshire University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and heard first-hand from West Midlands Ambulance Service clinicians using Consultant Connect tech
• Intelligent Health Tech: NHS embraces tech for swift dermatology consultations
• The Daily Telegraph: Streamlining communication in healthcare: Consultant Connect
• MK Citizen: Milton Keynes Hospital celebrates first birthday of its medical centre which has treated over 20,000 patients
• Digital Health: Consultant Connect’s tech allows photos to be taken, stored and sent to dermatology consultants
• Open Access Government: 17,000 patients avoid unnecessary hospital visits in Scotland thanks to Consultant Connect tech
• Herald Wales: More than 18,000 patients avoid unnecessary hospital visits in Wales thanks to Consultant Connect tech
• NHS Confederation: Providing urgent health care at home for older people living with frailty
• Health Tech Digital: A&E capacity unlocked by Consultant Connect’s pioneering “talk before you walk’ tech
• BBC East Midlands Today: Consultant Connect in Leicester
• Evening Standard: New ‘silver triage’ service to help avoid unnecessary hospital trips
• Health Tech Digital: NHS waiting lists: there IS a silver bullet
• Building Better Healthcare: A&E capacity unlocked by Consultant Connect
• Wales 247: App connects local dentists with consultants for expert advice and support
• The Herald: NHS Glasgow’s pioneering antibiotics service set to expand

 

You can access all the articles, audio and video clips we were featured in on our ‘In The Press’ page.