The virtual Q2 NOA quarterly meeting took place on 5 October 2020 and had a focus on waiting lists management. NOA’s Lead CEO and Chief Executive of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT (ROH), Jo Williams opened the meeting with an introduction to session one.
Session one, The Orthopaedic Backlog, was led by George Batchelor of Edge health Ltd and supported by Steph Wilson, NOA Lead Analyst from the Robert ones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT, the session generated input and discussion from members around the current status of NOA member Trusts waiting lists.
Session two, Waiting List Strategies and Innovations was a packed session with presentations from the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Greater Manchester Orthopaedic Alliance. Lucy Davies, COO at RNOH reviewed the growth in waiting times at the Trust and the impact of mutual aid in North Central London and the use of the independent sector; and preparation for the second wave. Lucy was joined by colleagues Amy Steel, John Doyle and Debbie Higgs who further expanded on the Trust’s approach to resuming elective orthopaedic surgery including their virtual model for triage and for backlog management.
Phil Turner, Orthopaedic Surgeon from Stockport NHS FT talked attendees through the challenges of restarting T&O elective activity within Greater Manchester. Phil was joined by David Sands Johnson and Andrew Tunnicliffe.
Session three, Managing Demand and Capacity at System Level was led by Rob Hurd who showed how GIRFT recommendations for sharing capacity are being implemented across the North Central London Integrated Care System. Graham Lomax from the London GIRFT Hub and GIRFT Ambassador and Orthopaedic Surgeon, Vinay Takwale explained these recommendations in further detail.
In the fourth and final session of the day, NOA member trusts shared their outpatient service innovations in a session titled How Outpatient Initiatives Can Influence Waiting Lists. Simla Ancharaz, Advanced Nurse Practitioner from SWLEOC spoke about a digitalised pre-operative assessment tool introduced at the trust which has reduced the number of patient visits significantly. This has also helped speed up the overall patient pathway in terms of removal of delays e.g. patients are one-stopped on the same day of the clinical decision to admit to hospital. Gavan McAlinden, Chair of Division from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust then presented on the trust’s spinal mega-clinics and how they have been modified with COVID-19.
If you are from an NOA member you can access session recordings and presentation slides in the members’ area of our website here. The next NOA quarterly meeting is scheduled for 21 January 2021. Email info.noa@nhs.net to register your interest in attending.