NHS consultant capacity to clear waiting lists remotely
Our clinically-led Referral Triage and Validation service is being used by hospitals across the UK as temporary support to reduce RTT waiting times:
Who reviews the referrals?
The service brings in the clinical expertise of NHS consultants working as ‘virtual locums’, following local pathways and protocols, under the leadership of the local clinical leads.
What is the impact?
Over 60,000 referrals have been reviewed via our clinically-led Referral Triage and Validation service, reducing lists by 29% on average.
What are the benefits?
As a result of the service waiting lists are cleared, and:
- Diagnostics are initiated where needed:
>2,000 Cardiology referrals triaged in one trust resulted in 41% of cases being safely returned to Primary Care once diagnostic results were reviewed - Important upgrades and downgrades are identified:
>1,000 Neurology referrals triaged in one trust resulted in 45% of cases being accepted for a routine appointment, whilst 7% of cases were upgraded to 2WW pathways - Cases are returned to Primary Care with management plans
>1,000 ENT referrals triaged in one trust resulted in 34% of cases being safely returned to Primary Care with a management plan
How does it work?
Our switch-on/switch-off model means as local capacities change, the service can be increased to cover more specialties, reduced or turned off completely with 72 hours’ notice.
What’s the feedback from NHS areas who used the service?
Olivia Mosley, Service Lead for Community Paediatrics at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: ‘Consultant Connect supported Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust to cast a fresh eye over referrals coming into the service and better understand the source of referrals and, consequently, their understanding of community paediatrics.’
Helen West, System Lead for Elective Recovery, Coventry and Warwickshire ICB: ‘As an ICB, we have worked closely with Consultant Connect and our Provider Organisations for referral validation and triage. Consultant Connect are a responsive and professional organisation. They have gone out of their way to provide timely support and services to set this project up. They have always been flexible to our needs working around our systems and processes to help deliver our projects. Their team of staff are friendly and knowledgeable and always engage to provide the best service possible. They deliver a service in the background that has assisted us to improve the delivery of our services and ultimately more timely care to our patients.’
COO from an NHS Trust: ‘We decided to seize the opportunity to clear some of our backlogs. It’s been a great help to use Consultant Connect as part of our armoury in trying to keep the hospital flowing.’
Michelle Benyon, Service Manager at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals: ‘One clear benefit of the work is in the management of clinical risk as it’s capturing the upgraded patients to 2WW as all cases are now triaged. Where appropriate, the service has provided plans to the GP to enable treatment to commence prior to attending for their first appointment.’
What’s the feedback from NHS consultants delivering the service?
NHS consultants triaging and validating waiting lists via the service shared their first-hand experiences, pathway efficiencies and opportunities for improvements at our recent webinar. Click here to listen now.
For more information
If you’d like to discuss how the service can alleviate pressures and support your NHS area’s recovery work, please call us on 01865 261 467 or fill in the short call-back form below:
