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Provider Collaborative – Mutual support across North East and North Cumbria

Home 5 Case Studies 5 Provider Collaborative – Mutual support across North East and North Cumbria
Image of patient waiting room

The challenge

Across the NENC system, elective care recovery is a large focus, with the aim of reducing the overall size of the waiting lists and length of wait for patients. In 2023/24, there was a national ask to eliminate patients having to wait over 65 weeks, to respond and meet the ask as a system rather than individual organisations and to increase collaboration across the system. The Provider Collaborative team (provided by NECS) was asked to deliver a solution.

Our response

  • To introduce a more formal mechanism to enable mutual support across the system.
  • To support elimination of long waits.

Techniques and tools

NECS developed a Mutual Support Framework which all NHS Foundation Trusts signed up to.

A Mutual Support Co-ordination Group was also set up, led by an FT Chief Operating Officer (COO), which met weekly with the collective goal of eliminating the longest waits across the region. The PMO function is provided by the NECS team.

Help and support was also provided to teams to agree on short term solutions and the alignment of pathways.

 

The key principles of mutual support in NENC

 

  • Maximise internal capacity.
  • Minimise movement of patients.
  • Maximise system resource.
  • Minimise the risk of worsening inequalities.
Image of patient waiting room

Outcomes

 

 

  • 1,200 patients with some of the longest waiting times have been identified, with 400 patients taking up the offer to get their treatment sooner by moving to a different provider.
  • Processes in place across the region ready for further national roll out of the “Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System (PIDMAS).
  • Our collective performance against the 18- week national waiting time standard has consistently been the best in England in 2023/24 and around 10% higher than the national average.
  • Improved collaboration and team relationships across the eight acute Trusts.
  • Agreement of short-term pathway support and on call provision between organisations in order to ensure service provision across NENC.
  • Agreed ways of working and principles for working together successfully.
  • Support Trusts to navigate the financial Elective Recovery Fund (ERF) stream to support activity and delivery.