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Transforming Outpatient Services: How SaTH Improved Capacity and Patient Access
In a time when NHS Trusts are under increasing pressure to reduce waiting times and improve patient outcomes, The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) partnered with Prism Improvement and Four Eyes Insight (FEI) to tackle outpatient inefficiencies head-on. The result? A measurable transformation in capacity utilisation, patient access, and operational efficiency.
Click here to read the detailed case study.
The Challenge
SaTH faced a critical bottleneck in outpatient services, with many patients waiting over 65 weeks for their first appointment. Despite the urgency, available capacity was often underutilised, and visibility into the gap between demand and capacity was limited.
The Solution: An 18-Week Outpatient Improvement Programme
Prism Improvement and Four Eyes Insight collaborated with SaTH to deliver a comprehensive programme focused on:
- Demand and Capacity Modelling: Identifying gaps and opportunities for optimisation.
- Improved Slot Utilisation: Embedding tools and oversight structures to maximise capacity.
- Enhanced Visibility and Accountability of Room Utilisation: Standardising clinic room usage and booking protocols.
Key Results
- Booked Utilisation: Increased by 3% across all specialties.
- Weekly Attendances: Rose by 309 patients (6%).
- Efficiency Gains: Improved from 79% to 82%.
Workstreams That Delivered Change
- Slot Utilisation
- Identified reoccurring underutilised clinics and agreed on core actions alongside specialties to tackle persistent problems.
- Streamlined booking rules and conversion rules.
- Implemented a structured rota and skills matrix.
- Optimised the utilisation report, providing enhanced visibility of short-notice capacity.
- Introduced broadcast messaging to improve short-notice capacity fill rate.
- Estate Visibility
- Introduced a central clinic allocation tool.
- Standardised room booking and cancellation protocols.
- Monitored daily room usage to reallocate idle spaces.
- Launched a 642 / clinic allocation meeting.
- Demand & Capacity Modelling
- Clinic code-level data cleansed to identify true bookable capacity.
- Scenario modelling to forecast clinic needs.
- Highlighted gaps between funded capacity and actual activity.
- Enabled strategic planning through validated, actionable data.
Sustainable Impact
The programme didn’t just deliver short-term wins—it laid the foundation for long-term sustainability. We worked closely with Trust leads to implement best practices, improve culture, and ensure sustainable improvements.
A weekly 642/room allocation meeting was introduced to ensure ongoing accountability across all specialties, along with establishing a clear governance structure to facilitate rapid implementation and mitigate risks.
A Patient Access Board was set up that brought all clinics into one central forum so that there is a clear point of escalation and challenge going forward for all specialities and all clinic codes – not just those booked by the central team.
Benefits to Patients and the Trust
Patient Benefits
- Faster diagnosis and treatment.
- Reduced harm from long waits.
- Increased trust and satisfaction.
Trust Benefits
- Increased income and reduced costs.
- Improved data visibility.
- Higher attendance rates and reduced WLI costs.
Interested in Transforming Your Outpatient Services?
FEI and Prism Improvement offer tailored support to NHS Trusts looking to optimise outpatient pathways. Click the link below to contact us.
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