New networks to give patients access to faster and safer care
Three of our top doctors are leading an exciting new project to ensure more patients get swifter access to routine surgery across our group of hospitals.
As clinical leads for the pilots of a series of operational delivery networks, the trio will play a key role in a new drive to bring down waiting times and improve outcomes.
- Nick Aresti, a specialist in upper limb surgery, is appointed as lead for trauma and orthopaedics, hosted by Newham hospital
- James Green, a specialist in prostate and bladder cancer, is the lead for urology, hosted by Whipps Cross hospital.
- Funlayo Odejinmi, an expert in keyhole surgery, will lead the gynaecology network, also hosted by Whipps Cross.
With support from the respective hospital chief executives and operational teams, each consultant will oversee efforts to make the most of the available capacity for each specialty across all our hospitals.
This will include sharing information and harmonising practices to achieve common standards, so patients get the best possible treatment in the most appropriate place.
A key objective for each network is to find an effective and equitable cross-site way to manage the waiting list for that speciality, and reduce variations.
The orthopaedic clinical network is already leading the way by consolidating much routine day surgery for bones and joints at the Barts Health Orthopaedic Centre in Newham.
Simon Ashton, chief executive of Newham hospital, said: “Surgery saves lives but is also complex and risky. Surgeons perform at their best when they do large numbers of operations of the same sort in the same place. The scientific evidence shows that consolidating surgery in specialist centres means better outcomes, more consistent clinical standards, and shorter hospital stays.”
The pilot networks will run for at least 12 months but it is hoped that as lessons are learned from them, other specialities will be able to adopt similar ways of working.
Amanjit Jhund, chief executive of Whipps Cross hospital, said: “Our pilots take inspiration from the success and reputation of the heart centre at St Bartholomew’s hospital and the renal network hosted by The Royal London hospital. However, the pilots are deliberately more informal at this stage, as we explore what works best.”
Neil Ashman, chief executive of The Royal London, said: “Encouraging collaboration across sites should enable us to protect capacity at the Royal London for the most complex cases that require our specialist tertiary expertise.”