Shared data was fundamental to managing electives in South East London (SEL) during the Covid-19 pandemic and the creation of a single system view which enabled the equitable management of the waiting lists of both urgent and long waiters.
An agreement was reached between the acute trusts during winter 2020/21 that theatre capacity during pandemic waves should be managed on a system basis to ensure equity. To achieve this a clinical senate was created and key principles and prioritisation criteria were agreed between the providers.
Action taken
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the SEL Acute Provider Collaborative board and the integrated care board (ICB) were keen to maintain a shared view of waiting lists, so they worked with all providers to overcome any concerns on data sharing. They created a submission template and worked with trust business intelligence teams to map trust specific codes and methodologies to create a consistent SEL dataset.
The visibility of shared, more robust patient tracking list data was key to driving the elective recovery plan and reporting has developed over time. They now have interactive reports which can be filtered and drilled down to patient level. The collaborative has moved from excel spreadsheet reports to a Power BI dashboard which is shared on an SEL SharePoint site/drive. The shared data means they can now have a 'forward view' that tracks progress against various waiting time targets.
Outcomes and impact
The SEL Acute Provider Collaborative used combined waiting list data to develop specialty level models for six high volume surgical specialties/networks. These assessed the future demand for theatres based on clinical prioritisation, the profile of the current waiting list, and expected additional monthly demand.
SEL data has helped networks collaborate and identify priority areas of focus e.g. single points of access and pathway transformation. They have also created an SEL health inequalities dashboard that uses the system-wide data which is refreshed monthly using the most current waiting list minimum data set. This provides both a SEL provider and ICB view and allows more disaggregated analysis as well as flags for patients with learning disabilities and severe mental illness e.g. by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation by trust, specialty pathway and borough/primary care network.
The South East London Acute Provider Collaborative is a partnership of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. You can access the webinar here to learn more about this work.