With no additional cost, we are also experiencing good patient satisfaction as recorded in our ongoing
feedback.
Embedded a culture of quality improvement and innovation
The main improvement in the quality of our care is making Urology accessible. With very long
outpatient waiting times, with increasing emergency admissions and surgery and potentially
unwarranted hospital stays, we have pushed to make our small and niche specialty much more
accessible. We have continued to adapt our inpatient care to allow provision of ambulatory care.
We aim to:
• Prevent unnecessary admission through ambulatory care
• Provide specialist urology treatment at Ambulatory and bypass GP or Emergency
Department routes
• Reduce the length of stay for our elective and emergency patients by reviewing at
Ambulatory.
The nursing staff are empowered to provide autonomous care in this setting. On establishing the
clinic over the past few years, the surgical nurses aid the clinic by removing stents and catheters,
assessing the patients without the Medical Team but with our full support.
We are continuously collecting feedback from the patients using this service, and endeavour to
address any improvements that can be identified.
Clearly demonstrated better outcomes
We have prevented Emergency Department admission in 60 patients over 10 months.
We are continuing to reduce the length of inpatient stays, with at least 92 bed days saved per year.
This is evident in both our elective patients and emergency work. We have had extremely few
elective procedures cancelled as we continue to improve the efficiency within our Urology Service by
using Ambulatory Care. The clinic supports the fast-paced turnover of urology inpatients in a safe and
effective way.
Patient satisfaction has boosted our confidence and given drive to continue to improve. Feedback we
have collected has shown all patients are satisfied with the care received, and all would be happy to
attend the clinic again.
Calculated expected savings predict that £112,000 per year could be saved but potentially more
valuable is maintaining an accessible service to patients in the current difficult climate in the NHS.
Presentation of a cheque to Urology Services
from the Harbinson family after the passing of
their uncle Raymond Harbinson in July 2018.
(L - R) Sophie Harbinson (granddaughter),
Karen Boudou (niece), Lynne Harbinson
(daughter), Andrea Cook (daughter),
Rosemary Harbinson (wife), Norah Keville,
Specialist Doctor for Urology (Lead for UAC),
Jenny McMahon, Lead Nurse Surgery.
Surgery
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