So many of the NHS’s challenges come back to the need to establish reliable workforce models. Handling the backlog is no exception. Teams are already working flat out to try to reduce surgical waiting lists, but the sheer volume of patients waiting means progress is challenging.
Understandably the focus to date has been on clinically urgent cases, or ramping back up throughput on low complexity surgery which can be performed at high volume. But there is a third segment: cases that are complex but not yet urgent.
Performing such surgeries necessitates significant staffing resources – from teams that are already flat out working through priority cases. Lack of capacity to deal with these complex but not yet urgent cases is now causing a bottleneck in the backlog.
So what sort of workforce strategy is needed to help address this specific part of the backlog? Some trusts are exploring a new insourcing model – how does this work and how does it address this issue? What are the challenges here, and how might they be overcome?
This HSJ webinar, run in association with Medacs, will bring together a panel to consider the specific challenge of the complex but not yet urgent cases within the elective care backlog. Importantly, it will also consider how this bottleneck might be tackled with new workforce strategies.