Monitor your department's performance or someone else will
The Department of Health has released details of how performance monitoring of diagnostic services will be handled for the 18 week target.
"Trusts in England have had this information for several months, so radiology managers should be aware of it," said Richard Evans, the SCoR chief executive officer.
"It is important that the details of waiting times and activity that are fed into the system are accurate and properly representative. It is essential that departments get the chance to provide the data, or at least check what is being said about services," he commented.
"The data collection exercise starts in January 2006, so if you haven't yet been informed by your trust, please press line managers, information departments and, if necessary, the trust chief executive, to ensure you get a chance to be involved."
The NHS Improvement Plan, published in July 2004, stated that, ‘by 2008, no one will have to wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to hospital treatment – which for the first time includes waiting for diagnostics’. SHAs and PCTs have been asked to plan to meet the milestones to drive down waiting times:
26 weeks maximum wait for first CT or MRI scan by March 2006
13 weeks for all scans and diagnostic procedures by March 2007
During 2005, the Department of Health has undertaken an exercise with 21 pilot sites from across the NHS to collect data on waiting times for diagnostics in imaging, physiological measurement and endoscopy. Data has been returned on a monthly basis and the scheme is to be rolled-out across the NHS from January 2006. This data collection is focused on a number of key diagnostic tests that have been identified as having the potential for long waiting times.
The DH will also monitor, on a less frequent basis, information on other diagnostics tests/procedures not covered by the monthly data collection. This will be via a bi-annual census of provider data that will look at waiting times for all diagnostic tests/procedures. The first census will be carried out in February 2006 and repeated every six months during 2006/07 and 2007/08.
Click here to download a pdf of background information. The DH 18-week website can be accessed by clicking here.
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