Key Principles
We have agreed the following key principles that underpin delivery of the Patient Access Policy and delivery of waiting time standards:
- The referring Boards must ensure that patients are informed that their care is being transferred to the NWTC.
- The referring Boards must ensure that the patient’s referral is clinically appropriate for NWTC.
- The patients’ interests are paramount.
- Referring Boards will have declared in their own local access policy that the Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH) is to be considered a ‘reasonable offer’.
- Agreement will have been reached between the referring Board and the patient to transfer their care to us prior to the referral having been made.
- Patients will be offered care according to clinical priority and within agreed waiting time standards.
- Patients will be added to the waiting list only if they are available and medically fit for the procedure.
- Patients who are unavailable will be recorded as unavailable on the waiting list – if treatment has been agreed between the clinician and the patient.
- Patients will receive an offer of appointment a minimum of seven days before their appointment date.
- Patients’ additional needs will be established prior to the appointment date and will be managed accordingly including requirements for transport, accommodation and interpretation services.
- Where a patient refuses two reasonable offers of appointment dates, the patient will be returned to their referring Board. (This practice will only be carried out if a clinician agrees that it is clinically appropriate to return the patient.
- Where a patient does not attend their appointment, after investigation and attempts are made to reach the patient, they will be returned to their referring Board where advice on next steps will be sought from the local clinical team. (This practice will only be carried out if a clinician agrees that it is clinically appropriate to return the patient.
- Redesign work will continue to support the reduction of variation in referral.
- Patient advised unavailability will be applied only where the patient requests this.
- Medical unavailability will be applied where a clinician determines the patient has another medical condition that prevents the agreed treatment from proceeding for that period of time.
- All periods of unavailability will be documented without exception on our Patient Management System (PAS).
- All patients who have unavailability recorded will be clinically reviewed at a maximum of 12 weeks with the outcome recorded on our patient administration system. (we will not apply unavailability for an indefinite period.)
