News

Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Diverts Patients with Waiting List Validation System

15th July 2024

As one of the largest acute trusts in the UK, University Hospital Sussex (UHSx), has been grappling with a monumental challenge in managing its elective care waiting lists – as with many other hospitals across the country. To tackle the growing challenge UHSx turned to Netcall’s cutting-edge technology and direct patient engagement to validate and cut its waiting lists, rapidly and simply.

UHSx implemented Netcall’s Waiting List Validation solution, which automates the process of contacting patients waiting to easily identify if they still wish to be on the waiting lists. Patients can quickly confirm that they wish to remain on the list, be removed as their condition has improved or be removed to be treated elsewhere.

Removing 13% of patients from waiting lists in a few weeks

The partnership between the Trust and Netcall has resulted in over an 80% response rate from patients and the removal of over 13% of patients from their waiting lists in a matter of weeks. By automating these responses, UHSx has saved over 266 hours per week in manual data entry, equivalent to seven full-time positions (14,000 hours a year).

The validation of waiting lists is not only a requirement but also a key aspect of the elective recovery plan. UHSx is committed to maintaining a 90% standard contact rate of patients waiting over 12 weeks and recognises the importance of staying in touch with patients to understand their needs, reduce duplicate entries, and remove patients who no longer require an appointment.

As of May 2024, an overwhelming 7.6 million patients were on the waiting list, with 6.3 million waiting for treatment in England alone. Among them, 3.6 million patients have been waiting for over 18 weeks, highlighting the immense pressure on the healthcare system.

John Clarke, Head of Client Solutions – Healthcare at Netcall comments: “Waiting lists have long been a challenge in healthcare. Through technology-driven optimisation, we are actively working to help organisations reduce waiting times for consultations, tests, and treatments.”

“Improving the efficiency of waiting lists ensures that patients are more likely to receive timely care, leading to better outcomes. The use of appropriate technology streamlines administrative tasks, ensures personalised communication and therefore allows healthcare and administrative professionals to focus on providing high-quality patient care.

Through their continued efforts to innovate and improve patient communication and validation processes, the University Hospital Sussex is leading the way in utilising automation to reduce their waiting lists and provide better care to the region’s patients.“

John Clarke

Head of Client Solutions, Netcall

Waiting list validation solution

The new system implemented allows any patient who has been waiting more than 12 weeks for an appointment with the outpatient team to be invited via text to confirm if they wish to remain on the waiting list, be removed as their condition has improved, or as treated elsewhere.

The data then automatically updates each speciality’s booking teams to help ensure that waiting lists are up to date.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust have also followed suit, and deployed Netcall’s Waiting List Validation solution to help tackle the backlog of patients waiting for an appointment.

80.4% Response Rate

13.2% Discharge Rate