Nottingham’s paediatrics ENT department are cutting waiting times
Nottingham’s paediatrics ENT department are cutting waiting times with weekend clinics
The Paediatric Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Department at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) are cutting waiting times through weekend clinics.
The team have been trying to find ways to reduce the time children are waiting for appointments. Through weekend clinics the wait for an appointment has reduced from 64 weeks to 48 weeks. This is reducing the time patients wait to see the department after being referred by their GP.
O ver 70 patients can be seen i n one weekend clinic due to the extended hours of 8 am to 6pm compared to the usual 9-5 working day. S o far this year the team h ave seen an additional 200 patients , with an expected target of over 500 additional patients by the end of the year.
The clinics see a variety of conditions fr om neck lumps to nose bleeds , with the most frequent being children with sleep apnoea . This is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
ENT consultant Mat Daniel said: “These clinics have really been a big team effort with everyone involved pulling together, from aligning staff availability to outpatients booking the additional appointments.
“Children with sleep apnoea stop breathing at night and understandably the parents are incredibly worried because t h ey're watching the child struggle to breathe every single night.
“If we can do something to speed up how quickly these children receive care, then that's a huge positive to the families, because parents are sitting awake all night watching and worrying about the fact that the ir child stops breathing. ”
The weekend clinics originated from the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, wh ich is a national NHS England programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.
Natalie Hancox, GIRFT Programme Lead, said: “ The team are working incredibly hard to explore innovative ways to reduce waiting times for children, and it’s been a pleasure to see the benefits being realised. The GIRFT handbooks have been pivotal in identifying efficiencies, and we will continue to use them trust-wide to further reduce delays .”