The March 2026 target is for 65% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment. Several Trusts are coming to us for triage capacity support, knowing they are at risk of failing to meet targets – some with 52-week waits back on the scene. In fact, it’s predicted that two-thirds of NHS Trusts in England will miss the March 2026 target (The Health Foundation).
With five months to go, it’s not too late to get your diversion rates up at scale and give faster access to care plans for your patients.
Our Referral Triage and Validation service brings in NHS consultants on our National Consultant Network (NCN) to write up management plans for patients safe to be diverted (38% on average), and to clinically prioritise and identify correct pathways for all patients who do not need hospital.
One of the most in-demand specialties currently is ENT. We have recently triaged more than 12,000 ENT referrals, reducing waiting lists by 48% on average, resulting in:
- 24% of referrals returned to primary care with comprehensive management plans.
- 23% redirected to another, more appropriate, service.
- 1% booked for diagnostics only.
- The remaining 52% directed to the right place, first time, including:
- 34% booked directly into a routine outpatient appointment without additional diagnostics.
- 13% booked into a routine outpatient appointment with additional diagnostics.
- 5% accepted for an urgent appointment.
All triage work follows local pathway guidance and operates under the leadership of the local clinical lead.
Hear from our NCN consultants:
‘ENT is a very high-volume specialty, leading to a significant administrative burden on consultants to triage these in a timely manner. A vast proportion of ENT referrals can be managed with Advice & Guidance to the referring clinician, redirected to a more appropriate specialty, or, on occasion, rejected as they do not meet agreed criteria.
‘Using Consultant Connect to triage referrals frees up the capacity of local specialists to concentrate on their clinical workloads. The use of experienced consultants – I have 24 years of experience as a consultant – provides a high-quality, timely service that also drastically reduces demand.’
– Dr Andrew Coatesworth, NHS ENT Consultant.
‘With ENT, a lot of initial management is medical before considering surgical interventions, so there are a lot of avenues that can be explored in primary care. Treatment can be commenced without needing to be seen in hospital, and this is so rewarding because the patient gets the care they need in the right place straight away; they don’t need to wait for and travel to an appointment which could’ve been done at their GP surgery or over the phone.’
– Dr Sonna Ifeacho, NHS ENT Consultant.
To find out how we can support your NHS Trust with Referral Triage and Validation, please contact us on 01865 951207 or email hello@consultantconnect.org.uk.
Related materials:
