One of the main challenges currently facing children and young people is significant backlogs in paediatric elective care. Long waits are likely to:
- Worry/stress them and their families.
- Impact their ability to access education and lead full and active lives.
As the NHS boosts paediatric care and launches a new target asking systems to eliminate longest-waiters by next year, we share how our services are being used to support clinicians seeing children and young people in a variety of ways. Some examples include:
1. Triaging paediatric waiting lists
Triaging referrals allows a clinician to provide a management plan for some referrals ahead of an appointment which delivers faster assurance for children and their carers. For all other referrals, it ensures they are going down the correct pathway and that the most urgent cases are seen first. Local resources to deliver this service can be short.
In Buckinghamshire, for example, due to a significant backlog of patients awaiting a community paediatric appointment, a Referral Triage and Validation project was initiated via Consultant Connect. An out-of-area NHS consultant paediatrician, who is part of Consultant Connect’s National Consultant Network (NCN), was brought on board to triage the caseload and reduce the clinical risk. The consultant is briefed on local pathway criteria and delivers this work under the leadership of the local clinical lead.
Impact:
- 42.7% of those triaged have been returned to the referring clinician with thorough advice and guidance and a comprehensive patient management plan. This ensures that patients are seen or referred back in the most appropriate manner to the right service, reserving appointments for those who need them.
- The remaining 57.3% of referrals have been booked into routine appointments with the local community paediatric team, and their urgency was determined.
2. Easing anxiety for suspected childhood cancer diagnosis for patients and their families
In Coventry and Warwickshire, children with cancer symptoms are being diagnosed faster thanks to ground-breaking telemedicine technology and better guidelines – easing the anxiety for them and their families. The service, which was set up in just two weeks, enables GPs to call consultants at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust when seeing children with suspected cancer.
Impact:
- 39% of calls resulted in the patient avoiding an unnecessary 2WW referral, allowing them to be cared for within the community and alleviating any anxiety for patients and their families.
- 30% of calls resulted in the patient requiring a 2WW referral, and the clinicians were then directed to send relevant information via the Paediatric 2WW Pathway messaging line. On average, messages sent following a referral being advised were responded to within 24 minutes, ensuring patients with sinister symptoms received rapid and enhanced care.
- An additional 13% of calls resulted in the patient being advised to attend the children’s ED (CED), bypassing a referral to receive an expedited level of care.
- The remaining 18% of calls required more information or a diagnostic before patient management plans could be advised.
*Data for calls with reported outcomes for the last 12 months from 1st May 2023 to 31st May 2024.
3. Directing children to the right place, first time
One of the most utilised lines by NHS clinicians in Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board is the Paediatrics Advice & Guidance line*. GPs use the line for rapid pre-referral specialist advice from clinicians at the Royal Hospital for Children.
Impact:
- Calls are answered in 17 seconds on average, and over 9,500 calls have been placed to the line since 2022.
- 31% of calls resulted in the patient avoiding an unnecessary hospital visit or admission.
- 50% of calls resulted in the patient requiring a referral.
- 18% of calls resulted in the patient requiring an admission.
- 1% of calls resulted in diagnostics being requested.
*Known as Professional-to-Professional Advice in Scotland.
**Data for calls with reported outcomes since launch, to July 2024.
4. Managing local demand
For areas with local paediatric clinical capacity challenges, our NCN, comprising out-of-area NHS consultants, can answer pre-referral advice and guidance calls and/or review photo and message requests. The service can be switched on in 24-48 hours and switched off that quickly when it’s no longer needed. This service can operate on a standalone basis in areas where there is no local coverage or act as a backup to local teams at times they are not available.
Impact:
- 68% of calls, on average, result in the patient no longer needing to attend hospital.
For more information, get in touch:
If you have any questions, or would like to find out how our services can help Children and Young People in your area, email hello@consultantconnect.org.uk, call us on 01865 261 467 or fill in the short form below to request a call back from the team:
