Transforming Outpatient Pathways: Using Automation to Support Waiting List Validation

6th August 2024

by Richard Higginbotham

The NHS is grappling with a monumental challenge in managing its elective care waiting lists. As of May 2024, an overwhelming 7.6 million patients are on the waiting list, with 6.2 million waiting for treatment in England alone. Among them, 3.2 million patients have been waiting for over 18 weeks, highlighting the immense pressure on the healthcare system.

These numbers represent more than just statistics; they reflect the real-life experiences of patients and the NHS admin staff working tirelessly under challenging circumstances.

Tackling the waiting list problem head on

Traditional approaches to waiting list management are no longer sufficient. Many Trusts are having to take a proactive approach to embrace innovative solutions, such an automation and patient engagement portals, to address this crisis and ensure timely patient care.

To reduce waiting times, the priority for most Trusts should be to validate their waiting lists and remove patients that no longer wish to be seen. Validation of waiting lists is not only a requirement but also a key aspect of the elective recovery plan. Trusts need to:

• Be committed to maintaining a 90% standard contact rate of patients waiting over 12 weeks
• To recognise the importance of staying in touch with patients to understand their needs
• Reduce duplicate entries, and
• Remove patients who no longer require an appointment.

But with so many on the waiting list, Trusts need a fast and effective way to communicate with patients. So, what’s the answer?

The power of PEPs

NHS Trusts are increasingly turning to innovative solutions such as Patient Engagement Portals (PEPS’s) alongside intelligent automation to streamline operations and improve patient care. PEPs facilitate direct communication between healthcare providers and patients. By sending automated reminders and queries via SMS, email, and letters with QR codes, PEPs ensure patients are regularly updated and can easily respond to their appointment needs.

By leveraging automation, NHS Trusts can complement their human workforce, allowing staff to focus on higher-value tasks requiring expertise and human interaction. Automation excels at handling structured data, repetitive tasks and can operate 24/7. It can therefore ensure consistent and efficient processing of waiting list data. The benefits include improved data compliance, reduced backlogs and significant time savings.

Thousands removed from waiting lists

Many of our NHS customers have implemented our Waiting List Validation solution, which automates the process of contacting patients waiting for their first appointment. It sends reminders via SMS, email and letters with QR codes.

University Hospitals Sussex’s approach has resulted in an 80%+ response rate and the removal of 13%+ of patients who no longer wish to be on the waiting lists. By automating these responses, they have saved over 266 hours per week in manual data entry, equivalent to seven full-time positions!

Hampshire Hospitals have seen a 79% patient response rate and the removal of 9.15% of patients from their waiting lists. 

Both these Trusts are automating their patient contact, with no need for a huge admin army. They can communicate directly and easily with patients to understand their healthcare requirements and keep their waiting lists up to date, offering earlier appointments to patients that still wish to be seen.

Shaping the future of waiting list validation

As we wrap up, it’s clear that automation is going to play a major role in how NHS trusts tackle the elective care backlog. From scheduling appointments, to using AI to predict patient needs, technology is really shaping the future of waiting list management. It’s exciting to think about how these advancements will continue to improve operations and ultimately, patient care.

80.4% Response Rate

13.2% Discharge Rate