Guidance

Improving productivity in elective care

Support for NHS providers to improve productivity in elective care pathways.

From:
Monitor
Published
12 October 2015
Last updated
30 October 2015 — See all updates

Applies to England

NHS providers are under unprecedented pressure to meet greater demand within constrained budgets, while at the same time improving the quality of patient care. Realising available opportunities to improve productivity in care pathways, from first consultation to postoperative follow-up, could relieve at least some of that pressure.

This report aims to help NHS providers identify such opportunities. It scrutinises a group of ophthalmic and orthopaedic elective care providers at home and abroad selected for their strong performance on quality and cost metrics. The report, a result of close collaboration with service providers, pinpoints where and how elective teams can concentrate their efforts to maximise quality and efficiency.

Helping NHS providers improve productivity in elective care

This report concentrates on potential improvements in the operational management of elective patient pathways within the direct control of NHS providers and identifies a mechanism whereby clinicians and managers can work together to maximise provision of care.

Appendix A: operational opportunities

Sets out the framework used to compare both national and international care models in this study and provides a detailed review of each improvement lever in the care pathway, including:

  • a detailed description of the improvement opportunity, including a discussion of how it can be realised in practice using examples from the NHS and international case studies
  • an assessment of the variability observed within current practice in the NHS
  • the benefits associated with good practice

Operational opportunities (PDF, 362 KB, 22 pages)

Appendix B: international case studies

Detailed case studies of elective care units in Australia, Europe, Finland and the US.

Appendix C: examples of good practice in the NHS

Examples of good practice across the elective care pathway for each improvement lever from the NHS co-development sites involved in this project.

Examples of good practice in the NHS across the elective care pathway (PDF, 719 KB, 20 pages)

Appendix D: financial analysis

A guide to the financial model used in our analysis and the assumptions made.

Financial analysis (PDF, 417 KB, 26 pages)

Updates to this page

Published 12 October 2015
Last updated 30 October 2015 + show all updates

  1. New visual summary published:our findings at a glance

  2. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Contents

Related content