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Press release: NHS Employers programme helps hospitals cut waiting times by up to 30 weeks

24 Jul 2007

NHS Employers has today produced new advice to help the NHS cut waiting times so that no patient has to wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of hospital treatment.

The 10 top tips are the result of a 10-month programme run by the NHS Employers large scale workforce change team in which 25 NHS trusts looked at how they could reduce waiting times in a chosen diagnostic area. All trusts reported a reduction of at least 15% with one trust cutting their waiting list from 40 weeks to just 10 weeks.

NHS Employers deputy director Alastair Henderson said: "Two years ago the Government introduced a key target that patients should not be waiting more than 18 weeks from referral to start of treatment by the end of 2008.

"This presents a massive challenge for NHS organisations but our programme has shown that it is not only achievable but that it can be achieved without necessarily having to spend vast amounts of money on introducing new roles or equipment.

"The teams taking part in our programme found they could make massive improvements with an average reduction of 63% in waiting times, by taking time to analyse their existing systems and then making some simple revisions." 

NHS Employers' top ten tips for NHS trusts are:

* Make sure your waiting lists are accurate
* Don't give slots to patients who repeatedly do not attend
* Make sure clinicians are involved in any review and changes
* Understand your department's capacity and how much demand is put upon it
* Map out the patient pathway through the department
* Introduce booking systems so that patients have a choice over the date they attend
* Review job descriptions to make sure clinical staff aren't undertaking too many clerical duties
* Ensure you have good quality IT and data systems
* Communicate what you are trying to achieve with staff
* Communicate what you are doing with patients so that they don't assume a shorter waiting time means they are acutely ill

Alastair Henderson said: "Our programme has generated valuable lessons that the NHS can learn from as a whole and we thought it would be useful to compile them as a list of top tips. One of the most crucial lessons learnt was the importance of engaging with clinicians early on the in process and the need to communicate clearly with patients about any changes to the system."

One of the trusts to take part was Barts and The London NHS Trust, which reduced its waiting time for neurophysiology by 30 weeks. During the programme, the neurophysiology team checked their waiting lists, changed their booking system and improved their IT systems. As a result of the improvements, staff felt more in control of waiting times and were able to focus more time on their clinical duties, while patients not only had a shorter time to wait, but had more choice over when they had their appointment.

Related publications

Briefing on LSWC 18-week wait programme (64 kB PDF)
A briefing outlining the findings, successes and learning from NHS Employers' large scale workforce change (LSWC) 18-week programme that ended in June 2007.|

Notes for editors

* The 18 week waits programme was run by the Large Scale Workforce Change team, which is part of NHS Employers. The large scale workforce change team is running further programmes in 2007 and 2008 including : making effective use of temporary staff; using maternity support workers effectively; and delivering improvements through the consultants contract.
* Further information on the work of the large scale workforce change team and all the case studies from the 18 week waits programme is available at:  http://www.nhsemployers.org/workforce/workforce-1042.cfm

Contact details

The press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers.

If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:

• Gemma Jeffcoate
  0207 074 3308 or gemma.jeffcoate@nhsemployers.org
• Emma Stafford
  0207 074 3307 or emma.stafford@nhsemployers.org

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