Getting It Right First Time. Gastro Innovation in Northumbria

With significant waiting lists and growing demand for secondary care services, Advice and Guidance is being increasingly explored as one potential solution to this problem.    

In this episode, Charlie Andrews discusses an innovative and extremely successful use of advice and guidance in Northumbria with gastroenterologists Matthew Warren and Richard Thomson.  Through the enhanced use of advice and guidance for all incoming referrals for secondary care input, they have demonstrated a significant reduction in waiting times for routine outpatient care.  

They discuss their advice and guidance model, and what they have learned from developing this service and the impact it has been having on their waiting times, and how it has been received by primary care colleagues (3:30).  We go on to discuss some common advice and guidance queries that Matt and Richard see (19:30) and I ask the question - what makes a good advice and guidance query? (43.30).