Managing 18 wk RTT, for high referral volumes

Capacity on-demand – avoid breaches – improve outcomes

The South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC) provides regional orthopaedic surgery for four acute hospitals in London and Surrey.

Referrals for surgery from the partner hospitals have risen steadily from demand and an expanding catchment. SWLEOC, as a specialised surgical centre, didn’t have the outpatient and imaging facilities for the volume of patients it was seeing.

As a result, referrals from partner hospitals were waiting longer. For these referrals, the clock had already started, further adding to patient waits and the risk of breaching the 18-week RTT target.

SWLEOClogoSWLEOC is a NHS treatment centre providing regional elective orthopaedic surgery services (including in-patient, day-case and outpatient) across South West London and Surrey.Established by the four South West London Acute NHS Trusts to deliver strategic change in the delivery of planned orthopaedic care, SWLEOC provides high quality, cost efficient, elective orthopaedic services amongst the best in the world.

SWLEOC performed over 3,000 joint replacements and is recognised as the largest joint replacement centre in the UK and probably Europe.

Outreach, closer to home

By providing several regional locations with the full spectrum of imaging modalities, SWLEOC has been able to see more patients in outreach settings, and undertake the necessary diagnostics before seeing them at the hospital on the day of surgery.

Regional capacity, centrally coordinated

The seamless coordination of thousands of patient pathways across the health region has offered an integrated solution to SWLEOC that continues to benefit patients, clinicians and the regional health sector.

“We have found the service to be of high quality, reliable, and dependable. The scan definitions and reports are of a good standard, and there is a good fit hospital processes making it easy for patients and the hospital to use. We expanded our outreach clinics to be able to see more patients closer to their homes, before they come to the hospital for surgery.”
Steve Thomas – Director, South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre.

Referral to scan waiting times fell from 42 to 10 days on average, enabling SWLEOC to accept more patients later in their pathway without breaching RTT targets.

Call us on 0845 154 2782 for more information