05/04/2022
Manx Care has reduced waiting lists across two clinical specialties as part of its ‘Restoration and Recovery of Elective Activity’ programme.
Around 150 cataract procedures were completed across March by a team from specialist healthcare provider, Synaptik, utilising the facilities at the Private Patient Unit at Noble’s Hospital. Both clinical and non-clinical staff from Manx Care supported Synaptik in the delivery of this activity. This follows the delivery of 350 pre-assessment appointments as part of this programme of work, with further procedures for those patients who are eligible to have their treatment delivered by Synaptik to be scheduled in due course.
By the end of February, Manx Care had cleared its Endoscopy waiting list thanks to the focused delivery of an in-house initiative to conduct procedures across weekend periods, utilising surplus theatre capacity. Between November 2021 and the end of February 2022, more than 450 patients were seen by the team at Noble’s Hospital, following a collaboration between the Endoscopy Team, Consultants, Nursing Team, Healthcare Assistants, Laboratory Team, Decontamination Team, Housekeeping Team, Pre-Assessment Team and Central Booking Team colleagues to deliver this activity at pace.
In addition, virtual telemedicine consultations being provided to patients across seven clinical specialisms (Cardiology, ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat), Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine, Pain Management, Orthopaedics and routine Dermatology referrals) through Medefer are now underway and, last week, Manx Care announced a working partnership with local mental health charity MCH Psychological Services – the charity behind Minds Matter and Isle Listen – to deliver psychological therapies for children, young people and adults.
Finally, work is at a detailed planning stage with regard to re-starting the delivery of elective orthopaedic activity at Noble’s Hospital. Further detail will be shared on this once plans have been finalised.
It’s important to clarify that the work being carried out within the ‘Restoration and Recovery of Elective Activity’ programme will not replace the current activity that is being delivered by Manx Care; instead, this will supplement the existing activity being performed by its staff, increasing its capacity to see and treat patients and thus work to reduce waiting lists more quickly. Utilising the support of third-party providers is an approach being used across the UK NHS in order to reduce already lengthy waiting lists which have been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Teresa Cope, CEO of Manx Care, commented:
'I’m delighted to see clear progress in the reduction of waiting lists for people requiring Endoscopy and some cataract procedures, with a demonstrable improvement in both areas. Alongside this we are now beginning to supplement our capacity across a further seven key specialisms for which telemedicine assessment is appropriate, and across some psychological therapies, so that we will see demonstrable progress there too. The feedback we have received in recent weeks from patients who have undergone an Endoscopy or a cataract procedure is exceptional, and testament to the incredibly hard work that our teams have invested behind the scenes in making this happen. They very much deserve the credit they have received. I hope Manx residents feel reassured that we are taking all appropriate steps to reduce our waiting lists and provide them with the specialist assessment they have been waiting some time for.'