The EWTD and booking patients
Doctor time is more precious than ever, and it makes no sense to waste it in under-utilised clinics.
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Service Reconfiguration rules: too many cooks
The straightforward tests for service reconfiguration are welcome. The process for applying them is not.
Any Willing Provider: still the future
Plus ca change... the latest guidance on NHS commissioning only goes half-way to opening up GP commissioning.
The NHS White Paper
Rob Findlay welcomes the White Paper, and puts a spotlight on the obstacles ahead of it.
A cheaper way to cut waiting times
Video clips show how better scheduling can dramatically cut maximum waiting times. The gain is equivalent to cutting 25% off the size of the waiting list.
The 18-week target
The 18-week target is not dead, but it is weakened. And the new performance monitoring regime betrays a lack of understanding of waiting list dynamics.
Referral to treatment: one lump or three?
When modelling referral-to-treatment waiting times, it is better to model each stage separately (outpatient, diagnostic, inpatient or daycase).
Austerity and waiting times (2)
When finance is tight, commissioners need their wits about them when responding to waiting time pressures. How can you tell when extra resources are genuinely needed, and when they are not?
Austerity and waiting times (1)
How can we meet our waiting time targets in an age of austerity? In part one of a two-part posting, Rob Findlay looks at how hospitals can respond to the pressures.
What are the NHS’s objectives?
What are the high-level objectives of the NHS? Not the vision, not the principles, not the detailed targets, but one or more overall objectives that you can aim at and know whether you succeeded. Rob Findlay rummages through the guidance and comes back empty-handed.