Trust eliminated year-long waits ‘by employing an administrator’

A community trust cut waiting times for one of its children’s services from a year to seven weeks, in large part by employing a dedicated administrator, it has said.

A Kent Community Health Foundation Trust board report said it had employed what it initially described as a “business manager” to take burden off clinicians in its East Sussex children’s therapies service.

CEO Mairead McCormick’s report said this had “resulted in a fall in waiting lists from an average of one year to seven weeks”.

She said: ”This freed up time in the initial assessment and ongoing sessions for the therapist to deliver best practice and concentrate on working with the child, rather than discussing wait times and when the next appointment may be.

“It also gave families peace of mind and managed their expectations as a schedule of sessions was provided immediately.”

The claim generated huge interest on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday when shared by HSJ, with many of the posts highlighting the importance of investing in non-clinical staff and management.

However, some clinicians suggested the reduction had probably involved the trust removing people from the wating list.

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Source: HSJ, 16 October 2024