Service Innovation In The NHS

Chris Inggs November 12. 2021
The scale of the backlog and the challenges the NHS faces over the next few years are massive. Business as usual is simply not an option as staff are already fatigued, systems strained and yet the waiting lists seem to continue to grow. There are very few short term additional resources that can be allocated: private hospitals are functioning at full capacity, staff are already working increased hours and new facilities take many years to complete and come on line. All of the above paints a bleak picture of the expectations of a post-covid recovery.

 
There is however massive potential in the re-engineering of patient care pathways that reduce waste, improve patient satisfaction and significantly reduce healthcare resource demand. By way of example The Surgical Consortium has worked with one of its NHS clients to re-engineer their dermatology 2-week wait patient care pathway. Through re-engineering the patient pathway & rapid turnaround of histopathology results we have been able to implement a service that not only ensures the patient is seen but also treated and their histopathology results obtained within that same two week process. Patients reduce their visit to the hospital by 50% on average, there are 30% less consultations by the specialist and patient satisfaction runs a a consistent 100% and the entire process is overseen by robust and comprehensive clinical governance framework. All of this is done at a significant discount to National Tariff and we provide wraparound care from the receipt of the referral to discharge inclusive of all administration and post-operative care. 
 
Within the administrative departments of the NHS there are legacy processes and systems that still use the same technology as they did in the 1990’s. Patients are still telephoned to make appointments, these are manually recorded within archaic systems and details are sent out in the post. The world has progressed to make that entire process automated and provides patients significantly more control of their choices whilst freeing up administrative staff to focus on those patients unable to access these technologies and ensure that there is still equal access to all. 
 
It is hard to overstate the potential to improve workplace efficiency within the health sector and The Surgical Consortium would appreciate an opportunity to discuss how we can assist your Trust to adopt some of this innovation. There is no better time to rapidly increase your Trust’s capacity through the adoption of proven technology and improved patient care pathways. 

Contact info@thesurgicalconsortium.com for further information.