Are you ready, fit and able?
While doing all that we can to achieve referral to treatment in 18 weeks, we are not able to hit this goal on our own - we actually need patients’ help.
The 18 week target means patients will be seen quicker and receive treatment faster. But if they are not ‘ready, fit and able’ to come in for their appointment, we will not be able to achieve this.
The old-days of having to wait months and months for a hospital appointment have gone.
By the middle of 2008, no-one should have to wait more than a total of 18 weeks from referral to treatment, and most will wait a great deal less.
However, just because patients will get to see the hospital consultant sooner does not necessarily mean they are more seriously ill.
The reduction in waiting times, together with other improvements, such as choose and book, that enables patients to choose which hospital they go to and to book an appointment that is convenient to them, will mean that the whole experience of having to go into hospital should be less traumatic.
Patients will need fewer hospital appointments as we reorganise our services and appropriate tests and treatments synchronised. It might mean they will be seen by more than one service on the same day, so it may take a little longer, but they will only have to come once.
Patients will receive a more holistic approach to care including prompt attention and convenient appointments which means less disruption to day-to-day life. Hopefully this will give patients greater confidence in their local hospital, and the NHS as a whole, and a better understanding of what to expect from their treatment and care and when to expect it.