QI 1209 Accurately Reporting on Capacity, Demand and Waiting Times for the Dysphagia Service within Adult Speech & Language

Abstract

Aim: To accurately report on the Waiting List in order to see a reduction in Actual Waiting Time data from 54 days in December 2022 to a target of 30 days by 30 June 2023

All referrals are received and triaged at ISPA. The service were cold calling patients from the waiting list and triaging the patient and then, if appropriate, booking a face to face appointment. The report was not counting the triage cold call as their first appointment, which showed the waiting times as 50 days for patients to be seen. The service planned to identify the triage calls as New Patient Telephone Slots where the first contact is made with the patient. Admin are able to book these appointments in advance, removing the cold calling and it was hoped that the service would be able to accurately record the data and by doing so would show a reduction in waiting time data.

Tools Used: PDSA Cycles - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-pdsa-cycles-model-for-improvement.pdf; SPC Charts - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-statistical-process-control.pdf; Process Mapping - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-conventional-process-mapping.pdf.

Project Impact: • Waiting time data for the First Patient Contact have decreased from 54 to 30 days (a 24 day reduction) since December 2022. • Decrease in "unable to contact" telephone consultations from 40% in January 2023 to 19% in May 2023. • A more streamlined process for first appointments has been implemented. This has been simplified from 21 steps to 12 steps.