Background
The Blair Government identified the need for innovative solutions that would not cost any additional funding to reduce the waiting list and waiting time across the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The UK Government looked to identify a solution that focused on increasing the efficiency whilst maintaining patient care and outcomes.
Aspen Medical was awarded a contract to undertake a consultancy project around improving the efficiency and capacity of the NHS hospitals without any additional costs being incurred.
Once the first project was reported to the UK Government, Aspen Medical was contracted to clear the hip and knee replacement waiting lists for Nuffield Hospitals. This covered several sites and was undertaken as a part of the UK Government’s Gsup1 project which was designed to demonstrate improvements in healthcare provision. Both the NHS and Nuffield Hospitals were also undergoing a restructure at the time adding another layer of complexity for the team.
By mid 2004, Aspen Medical had conducted 7,000 hip and knee replacements and 5,000 minor orthopaedic procedures during the engagement period. Our success in reducing the waiting lists in Northern England’s NHS system led to subsequent contracts with the NHS in Northern Ireland focusing on the reduction in orthopaedic, ophthalmic and urology waiting lists.
Challenges
- Rapid requirement for qualified and credentialed health professionals.
- Sensitive and complex political environment.
