Waiting list tops 4 million as admission rates slump
The waiting list has been threatening to exceed 4 million patients for a while now, and in June it finally popped over. A slump in the admission rate didn't help.
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The problem with annual planning
In theory, the NHS has highly sophisticated processes for finance and activity planning. In practice they are rather less polished. So here are two changes that would transform planning for the better.
What’s all the fuss about control charts?
What is control charting? How does it differ from a straightforward chart of performance over time? Why does it make such a huge difference to management? And why does it matter now?
RTT waits better in May, but worse year on year
Elective waiting times improved seasonally during May, but the longer term trend remains for ever increasing waits.
Follow-up outpatients and the clinical harm of delay
Everybody agrees that clinical priorities should come first. Why does this principle break down when it comes to follow-up outpatients?
Interpreting Capacity analysis: the control Charts
Is your bed flow designed to deliver regular crises? Is theatre performance stable? Control charts analyse your bed, theatre and clinic capacity for different days of the week, so that you can tell what was expected performance and what was unusual.
Waiting times top 20 weeks – and will probably stay there
The winter lull kept English waiting times below 20 weeks for the last few months, but now they're back. This time it's probably permanent.
Scottish waiting times still rising as election approaches
Elective waiting times are still shooting up in Scotland. And I reckon they're a good deal longer than in England.
Cancer – when waiting time doesn’t mean a waiting list
The 14-day and 31-day cancer targets suggest that cancer waits can be managed like other elective waiting lists. But the complexity of cancer pathways suggests that a different approach is needed.
We’ve upgraded our server
Our old server was over 3 years old, so we decided it was time to replace it. And the new one is a lot beefier.