UCLH transforms patientcare
“I’ve worked with a number of individuals in Logica who have been highly innovative and creative and have done a great deal to enhance the in-house development of ICT systems and that’s something that I have not seen in any other organisation that I have worked in.” Dr. Robert Stein, PhD FRCP, Medical Oncologist, UCLH NHS Trust
About UCLH
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. It has an annual turnover of 600 million. In 2009 UCLH was rated the best performing NHS Foundation Trust in the country. |
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The challenge
The government had brought in new guidelines for patient care. From the time a GP decided to refer his patient to hospital,to the day treatment began, the wait could be no longer than 18 weeks.
ULCH covers seven hospitals, with half a million patients seeking specialized healthcare, and 100,000 in-patients every year. For a busy Trust like UCLH, the 18-week rule was a tough task. Due to the specialized nature of their hospitals, half their patients would have already been seen by a local hospital, meaning the 18-week timescale had already started ticking away.
To meet the 18-week target they would have to take on hundreds of extra staff. This was not a feasible option. UCLH needed a system that would identify patients before the timeline was breached. It would specially make them for progressing promptly to meet the new targets.
Our answer
First we studied how the business would deal with the changes and what the users’ needs were. This gave an idea of potential issues and trainings required.
UCLH and Logica then carried out pilots on two different areas of clinical practice. If a patient was being treated in either of these areas, what did his treatment pathway look like? Mappings were made using business process management (BPM) software.
A success story
After a successful pilot in 2008, the system has been live across UCLH for a long time. Things have changed for the better. For instance, using our above example of the orthopedic patient - now the system will say whether an appointment has been made for the x-ray and whether he turned up for it. If not, it sends an email alert to the person responsible for appointments. The patient meets the consultant with all the proper scans and tests. It is now easier for the doctor to decide on the correct course of treatment within Government guidelines.
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