COVID-19 has sharpened the focus on a major long-standing flaw in the NHS which is increasingly out of place in the modern, connected world.

Traditionally, patients wait for months after referral to secondary care. No clinical information is usually sought or provided until individuals are physically seen.

The NHS can't go back to this outdated model for the foreseeable future as the capacity to see patients face-to-face (F2F) has been greatly reduced due to social distancing – and the risk of unnecessary attendances should be avoided. A huge opportunity exists to improve service by responding more effectively when patients are referred to secondary care

What is Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT)?

ACRT is Enhanced Vetting after receiving a referral.

It adds value at the start of the secondary care pathway and leads to a paradigm shift in the management of referrals to secondary care.

An ACRT Toolkit been produced to help NHS Boards implement their ACRT and PIR (Patient Initiated Referral) requirements and is available on TURAS Learn.

Click this link to access the toolkit.

 

Published: 05/11/2021 16:20