Last year, a significant backlog of patients referred to our Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) service was identified. These were patients from the Dartford and Gravesham area whose referrals not been managed in line with NHS waiting time standards. As a result, these patients waited an unacceptably long time for a first, or follow up, appointment across the service that we provide at both Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham and Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.
Review
A review was commissioned by NHS England to understand why this happened and make recommendations to ensure that it did not happen again.
The review found that the absence of a single, reliable waiting list for ENT patients was the main reason these long waits went unnoticed for many years. It also highlighted missed opportunities for earlier escalation, weaknesses in data systems and governance, and an inadequate service agreement.
We fully accept these findings and are sincerely sorry for the impact on patients.
Clearing the backlog
Once the issue was identified last year, teams at both hospitals acted immediately – validating records, contacting patients, running additional clinics and expanding treatment capacity, and prioritising those with the greatest clinical need.
A detailed review of the patient records confirmed that 5,979 patients required appointments, and thanks to an extraordinary effort by colleagues across the service, and with external support, all missed patients were seen, treated and discharged by the end of May this year.
Improving waiting times
ENT waiting times have also significantly improved. In June 74.8 per cent of patients were treated within 18 weeks, up from 54.5 per cent last December. We also met national milestones to treat all patients waiting longer than 65 weeks by last December, and those waiting longer than 52 weeks by the end of March this year.
We’ve also put in place a single accurate waiting list, strengthened oversight and leadership, improved data quality and agreed a new service agreement to ensure this does not happen again.
This progress has been recognised nationally. Professor Tim Briggs, National Clinical Lead for Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT), recently wrote to praise the significant efforts by teams – noting that the service has moved from bottom of the country for treating patients within 18 weeks last year, to third best nationally by April this year.
Next steps
Further work is underway with system partners to act on the review’s recommendations, and a detailed report about this will be presented to our Board on Tuesday 1 September and published on our website.
We are committed to acting quickly when things go wrong, learning from what has happened, and strengthening our systems and culture so that we provide the quality, timely care that our patients and families rightly expect.
