Strategic Health Authority
The Challenge
The NHS Improvement Plan published in June 2004 introduced the Government’s ambition that by December 2008 no one would wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to hospital treatment.
To meet the target, South Central SHA established a delivery programme called Transforming Care. The programme used lean thinking to redesign and deliver sustainable 18-week patient pathways.
NHS South Central commissioned Unipart Expert Practices (UEP) and Atos Consulting to work in partnership with nine local health communities on 15 projects to deliver the Transforming Care programme in a wide range of pathways across the spectrum of care.
The Result
Dramatic improvements in GP referral to hospital treatment times across the SHA, including:
- Reduction of 33 weeks waiting time (from 44 to 11 weeks) for an Orthopaedic pathway
- Waiting time for Physiotherapy appointments down from 19 weeks to 2 weeks
- 84% improvement in average referral to treatment time in a Gynaecological department
To view other significant results delivered, and to read the case study in full, click here.
