How Clinical Insourcing Can Help Tackle the NHS Elective Surgery Backlog
The NHS is currently facing a significant challenge: an overwhelming number of patients are on waiting lists for elective surgeries. More than 7 million people are awaiting treatment, and the situation has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS Trusts must find effective solutions to provide patients with the care they need. One promising strategy is clinical insourcing. But what exactly is clinical insourcing, and how can it help address the NHS elective surgery backlog? Let’s explore.
What is Clinical Insourcing?
Clinical insourcing involves bringing external healthcare professionals into NHS hospitals to assist with patient care. Unlike outsourcing, where patients are sent to private facilities, insourced professionals work within NHS hospitals using the existing infrastructure. This keeps patient care under NHS control while increasing the hospital’s capacity to reduce the NHS backlog.
This approach is highly effective because it enables hospitals to optimise the use of their resources, such as operating theatres. Insourced staff often work during evenings and weekends, allowing more surgeries to be performed without placing additional strain on the regular workforce. In this way, clinical insourcing helps NHS hospitals reduce their backlogs and provide timely care.
How Insourcing Helps Reduce NHS Waiting Lists
Waiting lists for elective surgeries have reached critical levels, with over 7.6 million patients currently awaiting procedures that could significantly improve their quality of life. Many patients are growing increasingly frustrated as they face long delays for necessary treatments.
Clinical insourcing offers a practical solution by bringing in teams of qualified healthcare professionals who can perform surgeries outside regular working hours. This increases the number of patients treated, thereby reducing waiting times. By using existing NHS facilities more efficiently, hospitals can enhance their ability to manage capacity and meet patient demand.
Why Clinical Insourcing is a Cost-Effective Solution
One of the major advantages of clinical insourcing is that it provides a cost-effective healthcare solution. NHS Trusts often operate under tight budgets, making it essential to find ways to deliver high-quality care while controlling costs. Clinical insourcing allows hospitals to use their own facilities rather than paying for expensive treatments in private hospitals.
This approach is significantly less expensive than traditional outsourcing, where hospitals must pay higher rates to private providers. With clinical insourcing, NHS Trusts can deliver the necessary treatments to patients without overspending. This method not only helps reduce backlogs but also contributes to long-term NHS cost savings.
Real-World Examples of Success
Several NHS Trusts have successfully reduced their elective surgery backlogs by using clinical insourcing. For example, one Trust with a backlog of 5,000 orthopaedic surgery patients reduced its waiting list by 40% within six months by working with clinical insourcing providers. The extra surgeries, conducted during evenings and weekends, made a substantial impact on patient care.
In another case, a Trust dealing with long waits for eye surgeries reduced waiting times by 30% by bringing in insourced professionals to work weekends. These success stories demonstrate the effectiveness of clinical insourcing in providing NHS backlog solutions and improving healthcare capacity planning.
Planning for Long-Term Success
Clinical insourcing is not only a short-term solution but also a valuable tool for long-term capacity management. By bringing in external healthcare professionals, NHS Trusts can better balance the demand for elective surgeries with the availability of staff. This flexibility ensures that hospitals can meet patient needs, particularly during peak periods such as winter.
Moreover, clinical insourcing helps address ongoing healthcare staffing shortages. Instead of relying on temporary measures, hospitals can plan for sustained increases in capacity to accommodate more patients over time. This strategic approach allows NHS Trusts to provide consistent and reliable care to all patients in need of elective surgery.
Conclusion
As NHS patient waiting lists continue to grow, clinical insourcing offers a vital lifeline for Trusts struggling to keep pace with the demand for elective surgeries. This cost-effective and flexible solution has already proven successful in reducing backlogs. By utilizing existing facilities and bringing in external experts, NHS hospitals can deliver timely care to patients who need it most. To learn more about how clinical insourcing can help your Trust reduce the NHS backlog and improve NHS elective surgery services, contact us today.
