First appointment waiting times cut using digital data

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has cut the waiting time for a first appointment from one year to an average of just six weeks by using a new electronic booking system.

Data analysis via the EMIS Web clinical system has enabled IT experts to check demand and plan capacity 13 weeks in advance, meaning the hospital’s 120 clinicians are now offering 1,000 more appointments a month than in 2014, when the health board used paper records.

The health board is also using data analysis to look at DNA (‘did not attend’) patterns for local populations to see how they can work with families to cut missed appointments.

Scott Wilson, senior information analyst, said: “We now have a wealth of information at our fingertips that has enabled us to plan ahead and use our clinicians’ time more effectively. Before EMIS Web, the only way we could gather data was through manual searches, which took hours. We had paper diaries for individual clinicians, with no formal capacity planning.

“Now we can gather data in minutes, and appointment booking is much quicker. If someone phones up to change an appointment it is much easier to do that, and offer their slot to another patient. It means patients are being seen more quickly, and clinicians are offering better care to more young people. Informatics staff who used to spend their time counting are now analysing and supporting planning.”