The second phase of a national healthcare initiative that has improved the quality of patient care and helped to control costs across a wide range of core NHS services, has been launched by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (NHS Institute).
Some of the successes of NHS organisations using the guidance from phase one of the programme include:
· Mobility for patients within 24 hours after a fractured neck of femur operation increasing from 70% to 100% at South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust.
· 40% less night admissions to the mental health unit at the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust following the development of a night triage system with a support team knowledgeable in the alternatives to admission.
· The number of day cases for cholecystectomy operations at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust increasing from less than 1%, to more than 50% following the adoption of the NHS Institute-recommended pathway.
· South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre now rated as one of the top performing services in the UK with an average mobility time of 12-18 hours after a primary hip or knee replacement operation.
The second phase of the programme will build upon these successes by targeting eight further areas of high volume NHS patient care/treatment. They are:
· Cancer (emergency presentations)
· Cataracts
· Children’s ambulatory care
· Coronary Heart Disease
· Diabetes
· MRI diagnostic imaging for low back pain
· Psychiatric intensive care
· Renal dialysis
These have been chosen by the NHS Institute as they are procedures with a high volume of care and have a large degree of variance in the resources used to deliver them across different NHS organisations.
The NHS Institute is confident that the measures could potentially save substantial sums, while at the same time helping to improve care and alleviating day to day pressures on those working within local health communities.
“There is huge potential for the NHS to simultaneously improve both the quality of care for patients and value for the taxpayer” said programme head, Mark Jennings.
