Experts reveal five data strategies to improve mental health waiting lists
6 Nov 2023
Burgeoning mental health treatment lists must be tackled with the adoptions of five key data strategies, says a leading consultant hired to overhaul the current systems of two leading London hospital trusts.
Principal Consultant at healthcare consultancy Acumentice Michael Watson said imposition of the plan would enable reductions in patient waiting times.
Last year, England alone received a record 4.6 million mental health service referrals – a rise of 22% in just three years. Meanwhile, urgent and emergency mental health care also has a record bed occupancy, above 95%
Acumentice has been commissioned already by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust to build a Patient Tracking List or PTL, combining all waiting lists within a single entity.
Watson has cited five data strategies for reform that can support the NHS’s overall attempts to reduce mental health waiting lists across all trust areas.
These include:
Data discovery: systematically exploring and consolidating data from sources, including Electronic Patient Records (EPRs), spreadsheets and local lists to combine these disparate data fragments into a one system.
Patient tracking lists optimisation (PTLs): using data analysis to pinpoint areas for improvement, allocate resources and make informed decisions and provide timely care.
Data gap analysis: identifying missing data by reviewing Electronic Patient Records (EPRs) and assessing the quality of existing data.
Operational intelligence: analysing data for insights into the operational aspects of healthcare delivery.
Ongoing caseload management: focusing on long-term patients to optimise resource allocation and efficiency of mental health services.
