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Northern Ireland produces five-year plan to reduce backlog of patients waiting for assessment and treatment
On 15 June , health minister Robin Swann MLA published the Elective Care Framework , which outlines a five-year plan , costing £ 707.5 million , to reduce the backlog of patients currently waiting for assessment and treatment .
The key aims of the plan are to ensure that no patient is waiting over one year for assessment or treatment and to build health and social care capacity to meet annual demand for services .
Speaking to the Assembly , the health minister outlined how the framework ‘ will systematically tackle the backlog of patients and how we will invest in and transform services to allow us to meet the population ’ s demands in the future ’.
The plan identifies workforce as the most ‘ critical aspect ’ of delivering reform . It outlines how there is a need to develop and grow multidisciplinary roles that will help to support and increase elective care provision . These will include advanced and specialist nursing roles , allied health professionals ( AHPs ), operating department practitioners , physicians ’ associates , and other key roles that are essential to maintain and expand these services in line with appropriate professional regulation and standards .
By March 2022 , the new Elective Care Centre Management Team will lead on the development of a multidisciplinary workforce plan to ensure each centre can deliver its full capacity using the most appropriate skills mix , in line with appropriate professional regulation and standards .
To ensure the plans can be fulfilled , the Department of Health will continue an international recruitment programme , to add to ongoing investment in training , and ensure there is a sufficient workforce supply to meet the demand .
Outpatient services will be transformed to ensure that ‘ patients are seen by the right person with the right information at the right time in the right place ’. This will include the delivery of condensed clinics , so-called ‘ mega-clinics ’ for outpatient assessments and preoperative assessment clinics by September 2021 .
The reform will include consideration of review appointments , and developing non-consultant-led outpatient services , including nurse specialist and enhanced AHP services .
The framework also outlines plans to transform rehabilitation services . By September 2021 , the Whiteabbey Nightingale will be repurposed as a regional facility to support advanced rehabilitation . By October 2021 , rehabilitation will be enhanced by a new multidisciplinary approach to treatment , prehabilitation and rehabilitation as part of consultant-led orthopaedic services .
Download Elective care framework – restart , recovery and redesign at : www . health-ni . gov . uk / publications / elective-careframework-restart-recovery-and-redesign .
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