More patients are receiving care in Croydon, South London, thanks to new software which is freeing up clinicians and operational teams from administrative tasks, boosting theatre productivity, and successfully reducing cancelled appointments.
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has recently implemented a new solution, the Care Coordination Solution (CCS), so that staff can view information in near-real-time, helping to manage waiting lists, schedule operations and better plan care.
The solution works by presenting information stored within existing IT systems, into one secure place so that the most up-to-date information about a patient is easily available for teams to review.
This allows managers and clinicians to ensure they are able to prioritise the right patients and plan their theatre schedules well in advance, ensuring that patients are given more notice ahead of appointment dates.
Since adopting the solution, more patients are being seen and same day cancellations by patients have fallen by 38%, and the Trust has seen a 12% increase in theatre utilisation, meaning more patients are treated.
Stella Vig, Clinical Director and Consultant Surgeon at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust and Joint National Clinical Director for Elective Care at NHS England said: “To effectively tackle the backlogs in elective care, hospitals need an accurate picture of who is waiting and how long they have been waiting, as well as the ability to better plan and manage capacity and optimise the use of resources.”
“Connecting data and joining up our patient records gives clinicians all the information they need to prioritise the patients with the most urgent needs, book surgery and manage pre-assessment in one secure place, instead of logging in and out of numerous hospital systems. As well as reducing a patient’s waiting time, this also frees up vital clinical time so that they can focus on what matters most – caring for our patients.”
NHS England is currently procuring Federated Data Platform (FDP) software for the NHS to support health and care organisations to make the most of the information they hold in order to provide trusts with the information they need to understand patterns, solve problems and plan services for their local populations and patients.
The FDP will provide each integrated care system and trust with cutting-edge technology, like this solution, to enable them to use their data and information more efficiently to develop and share innovative solutions to better manage capacity, reduce waiting lists, deliver better care and improve outcomes for patients.
