News | DMC Healthcare announces Dermatology partnership with Hull Trust to ease waiting list pressures
DMC Healthcare has made a big impact on dermatology waiting lists, seeing 500 patients in 2 months, relieving pressure on existing services and improving patient experience.
DMC Healthcare, a leading provider of dermatology, endoscopy and radiology reporting services, is working closely with Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for the provision of insourced dermatology services, including minor surgery and photo lesion clinics, to help reduce patient waiting times. NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) contracted with DMC Healthcare in October 2022.
Jamie Hanlon, Divisional General Manager at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, commented “We are really excited that we have an opportunity not only to improve patient experience but to significantly reduce waiting times by working collaboratively with an established community provider. This demonstrates the importance of working in partnership to ensure that patients are seen and treated in the most appropriate place by the most appropriate person.”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all routine dermatology appointments in the Hull Trust were temporarily suspended. Appointments for acute dermatology and skin cancer continued but waiting lists grew to around 3500 patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment, treatment or diagnosis.
Mr Hanlon continued “We found that waiting times varied between acute and community providers, which was also impacting upon the speed with which some patients were able to access care. By strengthening our relationships with the full range of providers post-pandemic, we have been able to improve patient experience and reduce waiting times dramatically for people across our area.”
Unfortunately, some patient waits reached 104 weeks for treatment which would normally have taken 6 weeks. Patients can be reassured that no harm has been caused due to delays.
Every other weekend, DMC run bumper clinics staffed by four consultants and a team of nurses. From a patient perspective there is no difference to the care they receive or the location they receive it. Many patients have appreciated being given a slot on a weekend, alleviating the need to take time off work.
The longest wait reached 104 weeks in Oct 2022. Now, in September 2023, the average waiting time for a first outpatient appointment is 5 weeks and average waiting time for treatment is 17 weeks* demonstrating the excellent progress that has been made due to internal efforts and the benefit of additional capacity from DMC, who are helping the Trust to bring the overall length of wait down.
Dr Ravi Gupta, Group Medical Director at DMC added
“We welcome the opportunity to deliver insourced Dermatology Minor Surgery services with the Hull Trust. We are a trusted provider in the local area with experience and a track record for providing both community and insourced services nationally. Working with Hull, we are ensuring that patients receive the most appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment within the specified target times, as a result of the timely transfer of clinical and administrative information and appropriate monitoring of the patient journey”
Every Trust across England has a target set by NHS England to reduce waits to 65 weeks by the end of March 2024. Hull is working in line with the constitutional requests and is successfully reducing their waiting lists.
DMC’s photo lesion clinic is highly advanced and has proven extremely useful because for some patients not needing to have minor surgery, they have been given assurance that the lesion is ok and to adopt a watch and wait approach. This is fantastic for the patient and their own self management as they know they can contact DMC or the hospital if they have any concerns.
Future plans being discussed involve establishing firmer relationships across the Integrated Care Board, expanding patient education, lesion management and embracing technical advances and AI for long term management.
DMC’s dermatology service is clinically led by Group Medical Director Dr Ravi Gupta and National Dermatology Clinical Lead Dr Sanjiv Agarwal.
Patient Information
If a patient has been placed on the waiting list and they are expecting an appointment, they can direct any queries to the Trust’s Appointments and Referrals Centre – tel 01482 604444. Further details on clinic locations are available on the hospital website – www.hey.nhs.uk
