NHS Trusts in the South of England risk being unable to meet national 18-week wait requirements, warns Ardentia » Health » 24dash.com

NHS Trusts in the South and South West clusters face the risk of being unable to meet the national 18-Week Wait Referral to Treatment (RTT) requirements following the termination of Fujitsus LSP contract, according to healthcare business intelligence specialist Ardentia.

Ardentia warns that the termination of Fujitsus £895m contract will introduce uncertainty and delays to healthcare IT projects being carried out in the region, and could lead to many Trusts in the South being unable to meet the NHS December deadline for achieving the 18-week wait target for RTT.

Although existing computer programs installed by Fujitsu in the South will continue to be supported, what happens to those not yet up and running may be the subject of a legal dispute. This would pose serious issues for Trusts trying to meet national reporting and management requirements.

According to David Beeson, marketing director at Ardentia: The disruption caused to Trusts as a result of the termination of the Fujitsu LSP contract could hardly have come at a worse time, with the December deadline for meeting 18-week wait RTT times now looming large. At best, the difficulties surrounding the contract are going to lead to further delays in providing the necessary system upgrades.

The need for Ardentia Pathway Manager software is now acute among Trusts in the South. We are only too happy to help Trusts who are now concerned about meeting the deadline. We would only urge them to act quickly.

Ardentia already provides RTT monitoring to 20 Trusts in England, and is helping them to meet the national targets ahead of the December deadline. Its Pathway Manager solution gives staff a prospective view of waiting times rather than a retrospective view, enabling them to resolve any issues well within the 18-week time frame, to ensure timely access to care.

The Referral to Treatment module of Pathway Manager, which has been developed with support from Microsoft, simplifies and streamlines the management of patient pathways, identifying key event stages and calculating waiting times.

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust has chosen to use Ardentias Pathway Manager in order to meet national 18-week reporting requirements and manage patient pathways from initial GP referral to acute or other hospital treatment.

Adrian Byrne, IM&T director at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust said: Improved processes and systems, and access to essential referrals-to-treatment information means a better flow of patients, enabling managers and clinicians to plan and manage their workloads more effectively and deliver an improved level of service, as well as ensuring compliance with national reporting requirements.

The solution will be used by information analysts at the Trust to ensure compliance with national reporting requirements, and will also be used within the Trusts own in-house information portal to drill down and investigate wider issues relating to patient pathways in greater detail