NHS Performance Statistics - January 2018

Combined Performance Summary

• Urgent and emergency care – Accident and Emergency, NHS111, Ambulances, Delayed Transfers of Care 
• Planned care – Referral to Treatment, Diagnostics, Mixed Sex Accommodation, NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, Patient Reported Outcome Measures 
• Cancer - Cancer Waiting Times, Cancer Registrations, Cancer Emergency Presentations, Cancer Survival Estimates 
• Mental Health - Early Intervention in Psychosis, Out of Area Placements, Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder, Contacts and Referrals, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

NHS performance statistics - December 2017

Combined Performance Summary

• Urgent and emergency care – Accident and Emergency, NHS111, Ambulances, Delayed Transfers of Care 
• Planned care – Referral to Treatment, Diagnostics, Mixed Sex Accommodation, NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, Patient Reported Outcome Measures 
• Cancer - Cancer Waiting Times, Cancer Registrations, Cancer Emergency Presentations, Cancer Survival Estimates 
• Mental Health - Early Intervention in Psychosis, Out of Area Placements, Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder, Contacts and Referrals, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

Combined Performance Summary - October 2017

This publication from NHS England summarises the data around NHS performance for October 2017. It contains a summary of the monthly performance statistics on:

• NHS 111
• ambulance quality indicators
• A&E attendances and emergency admissions
• waiting times for diagnostic tests, referral to treatment for consultant-led elective care and cancer services;
• delayed transfers of care; and
• early intervention in psychosis

Intermediate care including reablement

This new NICE guideline covers referral and assessment for intermediate care and how to deliver the service. 

Intermediate care is a multidisciplinary service that helps people to be as independent as possible. It provides support and rehabilitation to people at risk of hospital admission or who have been in hospital. It aims to ensure people transfer from hospital to the community in a timely way and to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospitals and residential care.

Recommendations include:
1.1 Core principles of intermediate care, including reablement
1.2 Supporting infrastructure
1.3 Assessment of need for intermediate care
1.4 Referral into intermediate care
1.5 Entering intermediate care
1.6 Delivering intermediate care
1.7 Transition from intermediate care
1.8 Training and development

Combined Performance Summary - August 2017

This publication from NHS England summarises the data around NHS performance for August 2017. It contains a summary of the monthly performance statistics on:

• NHS 111
• ambulance quality indicators
• A&E attendances and emergency admissions
• waiting times for diagnostic tests, referral to treatment for consultant-led elective care and cancer services;
• delayed transfers of care; and
• early intervention in psychosis

Safety and quality of emergency care

Chief Inspector of Hospitals Prof Ted Baker has written to England’s NHS trusts to highlight good practice from successful emergency care departments.

The examples came from discussions at a recent CQC event attended by senior clinical and nursing staff from 16 trusts rated good or outstanding for urgent and emergency care services.

The key themes identified in Prof Baker’s letter to trusts were:

• Ambulance arrivals
• First clinical assessment
• Use of inappropriate physical spaces
• Specialist referrals
• Escalation
• Deteriorating patients
• Patient outcomes
• Staff.

First two trusts meet milestone of all electronic NHS referrals

Two hospital trusts and their referring GP practices have become the first in the country to adopt a digital process for booking patient hospital appointments. Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust are now processing all of their hospital referral appointments electronically via the NHS e-Referral Service. Patients are also able to change or cancel their appointments through the system with analysis showing that use of electronic referrals has halved the rate of patients missing appointments from 10% to 5%.

Back pain pilot slashed number of onward referrals

A pilot primary care service in Hertfordshire has managed to discharge 80 per cent of people with low back pain after their first appointment.

Three advanced practice physiotherapists (APPs) delivered the 12-month pilot at the Fairbrook Medical Centre in Borehamwood. It received £75,000 from the Health Foundation to improve patient experience and save money.

Other outcomes from the pilot, which ended in August, included a reduction in waiting times for spinal injections from an average of 31 weeks to just nine weeks.

Physio self-referral website proves a hit in South Worcestershire

Up to 50 people a day have been self-referring to physiotherapy in South Worcestershire since a new website launched in June.

The Move to Improve website allows people to self-refer to physiotherapy

Developed by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, the Move to Improve website aims to give patients an easy, efficient way to access an appropriate level of physio care and support.

Combined Performance Summary - May 2017

This publication from NHS England summarises the data around NHS performance for May 2017.

It contains a summary of the monthly performance statistics on:

• NHS 111
• ambulance quality indicators
• A&E attendances and emergency admissions
• waiting times for diagnostic tests, referral to treatment for consultant-led elective care and cancer services;
• delayed transfers of care; and
• early intervention in psychosis

College-funded research shows Minor Eye Conditions Services reduced volume of patients referred to hospitals by GPs

New research funded by the College of Optometrists has found that introducing an intermediate-tier service (ITS) for eye care services could reduce the volume of patients referred to hospitals by GPs and provide replacement services at lower costs.

The research, published by BMJ Open, although not applicable across all parts of the UK, investigated the changes in volume of hospital ophthalmology patients and the related costs, before and after minor eye conditions services (MECS) were introduced in two London boroughs.

e-referrals have halved DNAs

Electronic referrals have reduced the number of missed appointments or DNAs (did not attends) in England’s NHS by 50 per cent

Rob Shaw, the interim chief executive of NHS Digital, said this meant NHS organisations had 50 per cent more appointments available for other patients.

‘If secondary care starts to fully take up e-referrals we will end up saving over £50 million a year,’ he said. ‘That money can be put back into the NHS.’

Mr Shaw spoke about e-prescriptions, saying GPs and pharmacists could not believe how much time and effort they saved when compared to using the old FB10 prescription forms.

But he said it taken the health service too long to embed new technologies and called for far faster adoption.

Patients and physicians benefit from referring wisely

The Royal College of Physicians' (RCP's) Referring wisely report aims to start a conversation between physicians about the referral processes they use each day and seeks to aid the streamlining of such processes in the long term.

It is often the case that patients are seen by many different clinicians during their time in hospital and there is a great deal of variability in the pattern of referrals between both generalist and specialist physicians. This is due in part to variation in service, but also to the fact that there is no clear consensus on which conditions lie under the generalist and which would benefit from specialist input.

Wolverhampton NHS trust’s teletracking system picks up Carter innovation award

An NHS electronic tracking system implemented at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which was picked from 30-plus entrants as the winner of the first Carter innovation award.

Wolverhampton trust’s teletracking delivery team, gives staff absolute visibility of what is going on across New Cross Hospital.

‘Ward staff can make physiotherapy referrals on the system, and the physiotherapist will print off the work list for the day. This shows all their patients by ward areas.’

Monthly performance statistics, March 2017

Performance statistics for March 2017 have been published by NHS England. These cover the following:

• NHS 111
• ambulance quality indicators
• A&E attendances and emergency admissions
• waiting times for diagnostic tests, referral to treatment for consultant-led elective care and cancer services;
• delayed transfers of care; and
• early intervention in psychosis

Elective care guide

Guidance for NHS staff involved the delivery of acute elective care who want to understand how best to manage and deliver referral to treatment (RTT) pathways and standards.

Referral-To-Treatment Waiting Times And Forecasts

This report from the NHS Confederation estimates that the number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for planned operations could exceed 800,000 by 2020. The analysis finds that demand for elective operations is rising, with the number of people waiting for treatment forecast to hit 5 million in 2020.

Displaying referral to treatment data

An example of how NHS staff can display referral to treatment (RTT) data to identify and predict performance issues, and react to them in a timely way.

Combined Performance Summary - January 2017

Monthly performance statistics for January 2017, covering:

• NHS 111
• ambulance quality indicators
• A&E attendances and emergency admissions
• waiting times for diagnostic tests, referral to treatment for consultant-led elective care and cancer services; 
• delayed transfers of care; and 
• early intervention in psychosis

Cancer annual report 2016

Annual cancer report from NHS Wales covering incidence, diagnosis. service delivery, prevention and the care pathway.