Consultants case study: a Trust’s view
Our project at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust (NGH) has been running since December 2016 and is having a really positive impact on patient care. Local Primary Care clinicians can use Consultant Connect’s rapid Telephone Advice & Guidance for 11 specialties and are connected with NGH specialists in 32 seconds (local average). To date, approximately 48% of calls to elective care have resulted in patients avoiding an admission or referral. In addition, 31% of calls to acute care show that the patient was treated out of hospital or was navigated to a clinic or outpatient facility. This is fantastic for patients and good news for the Trust and commissioners too.
One of the most common questions we encounter when discussing Telephone Advice & Guidance is ‘what do the consultants think about it?’ We sent a film crew to NGH to ask exactly that question. The short film features interviews with consultants from cardiology, care of the elderly, gastroenterology and respiratory specialties. It also includes comments from the Deputy COO of the Trust, who has been involved in the project from the initial idea to delivery.
