Medway and Swale Outpatient Redesign

Date: 16 October 2019

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Medway and Swale NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups and Medway NHS Foundation Trust need your help to improve outpatients’ facilities. We want to transform outpatients at Medway Maritime Hospital.

If you or a close family member currently use outpatient services at Medway Maritime Hospital, please complete the patient survey.

Do you work on the frontline delivering outpatient services? Are you a GP or a clinician who refers patients to outpatients? Please complete the staff survey.

The survey closes on 11 November 2019 and will be used to help us find out what needs to be improved and what is working well. We plan to repeat the survey in 2020.

Outpatient transformation

The current NHS outpatient model across England has been described as “obsolete”.  In the past ten years, the number of appointments has doubled, meaning we need to address our services to ensure we are meeting the needs of the patients.

The Medway Model is aimed at bringing more services out into community settings, improving how strands of the system work better together and making better use of resources.

Our aim is to change the way hospital appointments are delivered in the future. This might involve moving some outpatients’ services into community locations, supporting patients to have more control over their care or making more use of new technology.

So far people have told us they are sometimes waiting too long for appointments and that they want more access to clinical support between appointments so they can manage their own conditions better without reaching crisis.

What are outpatient services?

Outpatients are hospital appointments which do not involve an overnight stay. As a patient you are normally referred via your GP but you may be referred via another service. You have the right to choose which hospital to go to and which consultant-led team will be in charge of your treatment.

In 2017/2018 Medway NHS Foundation Trust had 325,000 outpatient attendances.

Services which will be included in this programme include:

  • Cardiology
  • Ear Nose and Throat
  • Gastroenterology services
  • Gynaecology services
  • Haematology
  • Neurology
  • Respiratory
  • Rheumatology
  • Urology

How have patients, families and staff been involved so far?

In the spring/ summer 2019 the CCGs and Medway Maritime Hospital ran a series of workshops with people who use and work in outpatient services to look at how services are working from different perspectives and what needs improving. Clinicians have also been running clinical task groups. The Public Engagement Agency is supporting engagement and is interviewing patients to find out more about their experiences.

Reports from each of the workshops can be found online here. 

How can I get involved?

Please complete the patient/family survey by 11 November 2019.

If you work in outpatient services or refer patients to the service please complete the staff survey.

If you have experiences to share about outpatient services, or if you want to get involved in future events please email or phone 01634 335260.

  • Summary:

    Medway and Swale NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups and Medway NHS Foundation Trust need your help to improve outpatients’ facilities.