Reform: The MBI view on the hidden waitlist and what can be done to address it
Based on data obtained exclusively by think tank Reform via an freedom of information (FOI) request, the total number of people currently waiting for follow up appointments at acute Trusts in England stands at more than 11 million, as set out in the new report The Hidden Waitlist: The growing follow-up backlog.
“MBI welcomes the findings of The Hidden Waitlist. The report highlights the need for greater transparency of the follow-up backlog. Whilst the total size of the list will get headlines, the real question is: how many of the total are overdue? The gaps in information are concerning, but perhaps inevitable given the polarised focus on one set of patients over another. We fully support the report’s main recommendation to report on these patients regularly.
It is only through full transparency of patient demand and visibility of all waiting list activity that hospitals and the NHS can properly inform patient safety and recovery planning, and direct precious resource.”
Barry Mulholland, Partner, MBI
In its work scrutinising RTT and non-RTT pathways, MBI has found numerous examples of patients on one waiting list that should have been on the other and vice versa, as well as patients who get “lost” in the system and fail to receive care
Poor data-health delays care, adds risk, and increases cost. Getting to grips with data health and building a strategy to transition to a sustainable automated environment is a crucial foundation step to any recovery plan.
Crucially, a third of Trusts responded to the FOI request saying they could not provide the data.
“With patients increasingly suffering negative outcomes from long waits or missed follow-up appointments, it’s essential that the NHS has the data to prioritise all of its patients, not just RTT. We need to understand the competing demands between these lists and focus on patient care and risk. Transparency and better data are the basis for doing this.
The report raises some key policy issues in how elective care patients are being managed in different ways depending on which list they are on. The time has come for a policy intervention to ensure equity regardless of list type and an increased focus on diagnosis to minimise the patient risk we are currently carrying.“
Barry Mulholland, Partner, MBI
Addressing the hidden waitlist
MBI has been helping Trust’s with understanding their entire waiting list position for many years, helping them uncover their non-RTT (or follow-up) demand.
Benefits of working with MBI include:
- Full understanding of the issue: We’ve advocated and campaigned for full visibility for many years and gained a mature understanding and fully formed solution to address this crucial reporting requirement.
- Repeatable proven approach and track record: We have a technology-driven methodology that has a track record of delivering a full view of waiting lists, which has already been assured by NHS regulators in projects where it has been deployed. We have refined and tested algorithms and we are already working with many NHS Trusts to establish and maintain their non-RTT lists.
- Industry-leading technology to accelerate your visibility and assurance: Our unique ROVA platform ingests and reads clinical documents to enrich your data and give you the most accurate view of all patients needing care. Volumes are too high to validate manually so a multi layered technology approach is the answer, including proven data modelling, patient contact, and ROVA.
