‘Vetting hospital referrals can help patients’ (Ann Robinson, the Guardian). GP referrals may be rejected, whether sent direct to a hospital or via a referral management service. This process is frustrating for GP and patient alike. Conscientious GPs will be quick to respond to a request for more information. Yet, in some cases a request
Peer review and the future of referral assessment
RTT targets temporarily relaxed? Time the NHS reviewed its referral systems
This Spring, the financial penalties for providers who fail to reach the target of 92% of patients being seen within 18 weeks of referral for consultant-led treatment (RTT) seems, temporarily, to have been removed. This appears to have been a recognition by the Government that for financial and demographic reasons, for many trusts the target
MCP vanguard selects psHEALTH
Connected Care Partnership (CCP), which includes Modality Partnership and Intelligent Commissioning Federation (ICOF), is a multispecialty community provider vanguard in Birmingham and Sandwell. CCP are developing new ways of working together that will help improve the overall health and wellbeing of local people. Central to the new ways of working will be the introduction of
Trust SPAs: increasingly important but in serious need of review?
Most trusts operate some form of Single Point of Access (SPA). They fulfil the essential function of reviewing, structuring and assigning incoming referrals. The effective management of this process has always had far reaching implications for the overall efficiency of a trust. A successful SPA can save a consultant precious time or, if ineffective, can
psHEALTH awarded place on G-Cloud 9
psHEALTH have been awarded a place on the latest Crown Commercial Service framework, G-Cloud 9. The G –Cloud framework allows UK public sector organisations to identify and procure cloud based services. psHEALTH’s Advanced Referral & Triage product, launched earlier this year, will be available on the framework alongside our Robotic Process Automation-as-a-Service and professional services
Unwarranted variation – are we missing something?
Collectively, the Sustainability and Transformation Plans highlight the prevalence of unwarranted variation in the NHS today. Many of the plans reference the negative effect of this on patient outcomes, and the overall cost to the NHS – estimated at £4.5bn in England. But are we missing something? The Atlas of Variation has revealed the variation
The real value of referral management?
A recent publication by the BMJ, following a successful Freedom of Information (FoI) request, reveals the considerable use of referral management schemes by CCGs. Rightly, the publication has generated an important discourse on how CCGs, and other organisations, commission value. Some of the key points revealed by the FoI request: 72 out of the 184
Commissioning priorities: the case for clear rules
CCGs are being forced to manage demand for services in a more proactive way. Hardly a week goes by without a CCG announcing restrictions on procedures available to patients. Most recently three West Midlands CCGs changed the eligibility threshold for hip and knee replacements, expecting to save £2 million per year by reducing activity volume
psHEALTH Promotion Night 2017
‘psHEALTH Promotion Night – Better than the Oscars!’ Our Monthly Team meeting – which always includes a bit of fun & games – was extra special last Thursday as it was Promotion Night. A bit like the Oscars, people dressed up. Ingolv donned his old tuxedo and Jason took out his tight cocktail dress and
Provider assessment teams: brilliant people performing arduous tasks
I’ve been fortunate to spend time with a variety of healthcare professionals. During this time, I feel I’ve gained a valuable insight into the inner workings of a number of NHS providers. One of the first things I realised is that despite offering the same or similar services, providers often differ in their organisational setup
Consultant-to-Consultant referrals on the rise?
Last week the King’s Fund published a report exploring demand for hospital services. The report indicates that over the last 13 years overall referral numbers have risen by 62% – an average of 3% per year. Referrals from GPs specifically have increased from 2.4 million in Q1 2003 to 3.6 million in Q1 2016/17, an