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Nottingham University Hospitals and PA Consulting finalists in the Health Service Journal’s Partnership Awards 2022
We are pleased to announce that in partnership with PA Consulting, Nottingham University Hospitals are a finalist in the “Best Elective Care Recovery Initiative” category in the HSJ 2022 Partnership Awards. The category recognises initiatives that support elective care recovery efforts, and have proven results which significantly reduce the backlog and/or contribute significantly to diagnosis and earlier-stage intervention on a large scale. The Health Foundation’s report on the effect of Covid-19 on NHS waiting lists reports an average annual increase of ~300,000 in the five years prior to the pandemic, and that during the pandemic the list increased to 5.6 million in July 2021.
Our project, ‘Making every minute count: optimising scanner utilisation’, was selected by the judges based on its demonstrable positive impact on the experiences of both our patients and staff. The main objective was to increase our imaging activity by maximising the number of patients scanned each day. To do this, PA Consulting was tasked with offering us solutions to our booking and scheduling systems. The proposed solution was to visualise live and future scanner use and create an easy to use booking tool. The goals were to minimise wasted appointments for CT Ultrasound and MRI, to reach and maintain more than 85% of possible weekly utilisation, and to improve notice given to patients for appointments. A Diagnostic Booking Support Tool was introduced in November 2020, after seven weeks of development. The tool is used on a live basis to identify capacity and to book or contact patients, in order of clinical priority, to use the first available slot. The new booking process is easier for staff as inbuilt algorithms match patient attributes to available capacity for the right scanner and staff at the right time, removing the need for manual searching.
The new tool enabled us to achieve average utilisation figures of:
• 93% in CT
• 86% in MR
• 78% in General Ultrasound
This translated directly into additional 1,781 patients scanned within three months who would otherwise have been delayed or still awaiting a diagnosis. The partnership resulted in an improvement in activity of 12% for CT scanners, 7% for MR scanners and 27% for General Ultrasound scans. The CT and General Ultrasound backlogs were promptly reduced. Complexities of bookings and booking errors are reduced, whilst the speed of bookings is increased. The booking process has been drastically simplified by PA’s tool, meaning that time spent training staff is saved, and staff can be brought in at speed. The tool has not only resolved the challenges posed by Covid-19, but has demonstrated the value that it will continue to bring to our patients and staff.
Speaking of making the shortlist, Jenny Lewis, Healthcare Analytics Expert at PA Consulting said:
“We’re delighted to be recognised in the shortlist for our work with NUH’s imaging teams and this is a great example of how data and analytics can be applied to the wider elective recovery challenges the NHS faces. It has been a pleasure working with the NUH team. Together we have demonstrated the huge transformation for patient care that can be delivered in just three months through innovative investment in new technologies. This work will have a lasting impact not only to their existing elective backlog exacerbated by COVID-19, but to their future approaches to data accuracy, capacity utilisation and supporting scheduling teams to optimise NHS resources.”
Speaking of the project David Campion, General Manager of our Clinical Support Division said:
“Through this project we have seen a remarkable increase in scanner utilisation and increase in activity considering COVID constraints. This is a key enabler to meet current demand for scans but also reducing our patient backlog in future. Using these tools our teams are moving from continual firefighting mode to a planned delivery of services.”
Working collaboratively on the project with experts at PA Consulting were representatives from our booking team and supervisors, consultant radiologists, radiographers and sonographers, service improvement team, IT, data warehouse and informatics teams.
Kath Halliday, Consultant Radiologist said:
“PA Consulting worked tirelessly with managers and frontline staff to ensure that we could really make the booking tool work. Consequently, we were able to make big changes quickly. Our staff enjoyed it and were able to readily see the results of their hard work. The tool has improved our utilisation across all modalities; we now monitor weekly and are able to sustain the improvement.”
Our booking coordinators said:
“This booking tool is especially useful for new staff who previously would have taken months to acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of complexities – with the tool, they can get on with the job on day one.
It is hoped that in the future this tool will lay the foundations to enable patients to view and book their own diagnostic appointments once referred by a clinician, a recommendation from Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT), which is a national programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients.