Why is this National Indicator important?
A key concern for patients and NHS Scotland alike is the wait between referral from primary care to the start of any necessary hospital treatment. Reducing this wait is one of the top priorities of Government.
Getting access to outpatient assessment, diagnostic tests and inpatient care as quickly as possible is important as, in many cases, this is likely to have an impact on the health outcomes of patients. Faster access also reduces stress for the individuals who require these services and for their families. Reducing backlogs and queues also leads to greater efficiency across the range of services involved, as well as a better health care experience for patients. It must be remembered that many patients, such as emergencies, are seen and treated right away, without ever having to wait.
What will influence this National Indicator?
- Health of the Scottish population, and the effect of interventions to improve health.
- Provision of services in primary and secondary sectors, sufficient to meet demand and effects of shifting the balance of care.
- Managing referrals to ensure appropriate care pathways are in place.
- Behaviour of patients in attending clinics and communication between clinical teams and patients.
- Improving processes and efficiency to reduce bottlenecks and backlogs.
- Higher quality of healthcare interventions resulting in less follow-up or readmission.
What is the Government's role?
The Government provides direction and leadership to healthcare providers: NHS Boards; supporting agencies and voluntary sector organisations. This includes a governance framework for delivery of reduced waiting times and quality improvement standards.
It also manages the delivery of reduced waiting times against established targets, for example HEAT (Health Improvement, Efficiency, Access, Treatment) and QIS (Quality Improvement Scotland standards), and to advise ministers and the public of progress.
The Government will also establish national programmes where these would provide support and add value to the work of healthcare providers in reducing waiting times.
How are we performing?
The Scottish Government aims to achieve annual milestones for reducing inpatient or day case waiting times culminating in delivery of an 18 week referral to treatment time from December 2011. In the first instance a key milestone of achieving a 15 weeks maximum wait for both outpatient consultations and hospital admissions by the end of March 2009 has been set. Between 31 December 2006 and 31 December 2007 the number of outpatients waiting over 15 weeks reduced from 43,669 to 12,303; whilst the number of patients waiting over 15 weeks for hospital admission reduced from 26,928 to 8,209.
Source: ISD Quarterly Outpatient Waiting List Census and SMR3 Census
Availability Status Codes were abolished from 1 January 2008 and new ways of defining, recording and measuring waiting times were introduced. Information derived from 'New Ways' allows periods of unavailability to be deducted from a patient's total wait. The New Ways statistics are classed as provisional, as they require some further work in order to improve their reliability. A full description on data quality is available on the ISD website ( http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5573.html). Statistics from the first two quarters of 2008 show a reduction in the number of inpatients / day cases waiting over 15 weeks (which is the current proxy measure for 18 week RTT), from 1,899 in March 2008 to 1,668 in June 2008. Please note that the New Ways statistics are not comparable with the statistics shown above.
Methodology
Data for 31 December 2007 and 31 December 2006 show clear reductions in the numbers waiting over 15 weeks for both outpatient appointments and hospital admissions, and this is the measure currently used to assess the arrow. Thresholds for progress for the New Ways statistics are being developed.
For information on general methodological approach, please click here.
Further Information
2007 Spending Review Technical Note
Statistics Topic Page
Who are our supporting delivery partners?
Territorial and Special NHS Boards
Scottish Health Council
Local Authorities
Royal Colleges of Health
Scottish Partnership Forum
Voluntary Sector healthcare providers
Related Strategic Objectives
Healthier
Safer and Stronger
Smarter
Wealthier and Fairer
Greener