Outpatients account for 80% of elective activity in acute hospitals. The NHS has guidance, targets, mandates and improvement programmes. So why is this still such a problem?
This is the question tackled in the latest episode of The Improving Healthcare Podcast, ‘Outpatient Follow-Ups – A Continuous Improvement Approach’, where host Darren Jones speaks with Dr Felix Davies, Healthcare Director at Develop Consulting, and Sajid Khan, Managing Healthcare Consultant.
The 10 Year Plan aims to “end hospital outpatients as we know it by 2035.” Despite years of policy focus on initiatives like advice and guidance and patient-initiated follow-ups, progress has been slow.
Felix was clear about why. “It’s not so much what you do, but it’s how you do it.”
Sajid put it simply. “Guidance doesn’t change systems. Behaviours do. The solutions are out there. The challenge is embedding these changes with discipline, measurement and coaching. The problem isn’t guidance, it’s execution.”
He gave a concrete example from his work with a large acute trust. They had over 3,500 referrals in the system, with some patients waiting over 75 weeks. Within six months, the backlog was cleared and waiting times reduced from 75 weeks to 24 hours.
Felix highlighted what makes the difference: measurement for improvement, not just measurement. “We find organisations collate huge amounts of data, but often it’s not the correct data to measure for improvement.”
The message was clear. The NHS doesn’t need more guidance. It needs better execution.
To listen or watch the full conversation, visit develop-consulting.co.uk/podcasts, or find the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
