A partnership between the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Medefer has landed a top award.

The Award

The award is for a supplier or service provider to the NHS supporting elective care recovery efforts, with proven outcomes that significantly reduce the backlog and/or contribute significantly to diagnosis and earlier-stage intervention on a large scale. 

The Isle of Wight commissioned Medefer to deliver its virtual services as a proactive covid-19 recovery initiative. To date, 6,738 patients have been referred, across six specialties, resulting in 41 per cent of patients being managed without attending outpatients. Those requiring hospital attendance are risk assessed, prioritised and pre-optimised through the virtual pathway. The approach is now seen as a transformative solution across the IoW, which has improved patient care and clinical outcomes.

The Partnership

Medefer is a virtual hospital service who review and manage GP referrals through an online team of UK-registered Consultants so that patients don’t have to wait for an in-person hospital appointment. They support patients from their initial referral from their GP and review their situation to identify the need for further investigation, in order that they can be treated and discharged, often without the need for physical outpatient appointments.

With the onset of Covid -19 pandemic and hospital consultants being redirected to meet the covid response there was a cessation of Outpatients at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight.  Consultants were unable to triage GP referrals and there was a risk patients may be missed, come to harm through not being not being reviewed, or waiting a considerable period of time to be seen.  To mitigate this risk and reduce any potential patient harm Medefer, rated as Good by CQC, were contracted to virtually manage and triage the GP patient referrals into the organisation.

Management of the GP referrals through Medefer was a proactive action to alleviate the current constraints and abate the long-term impact on internal workforce and its future resilience and capacity to address post pandemic backlogs.

Medefer virtual service, post pandemic, has supported the outpatient transformation towards implementation of advice and guidance, triage categorisation (including peer review to GPs). With the roll out of the full virtual outpatient service Medefer has ensured faster sustainable recovery of RTT and improved patient care.

Patient Outcomes

As a result of the partnership with Medefer

• during the Covid pandemic 172 patients on a routine GP referral were upgraded to a cancer pathway. From these 7 patients went on to be diagnosed as having cancer.
• During the period April 2019 to December2021 whilst the National RTT waiting list deteriorated by 40% whilst the Isle of Wight RTT improved by 1%
• The 52-week wait backlog has been reduced by 65%.
• Patients were triaged within 35hrs of GP Referral
• Overall, there has been a reduction of 47% in outpatient demand

Winners of the 2022 HSJ Award – Best Elective Care Recovery Initiative

by Clinically Assessing and Mitigating Risk for Outpatient Backlogs

– A Proactive Covid-19 Recovery Initiative

HSJ Award – Best Elective Care Recovery Initiative Winners: Medefer and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust partnership