This page provides details of some of the work we have undertaken to improve services, taking into account what local people have told us.
Some of this activity is specific to the Darlington and Teesside area and local people. Some work may have been undertaken jointly with other Clinical Commissioning Groups in the region as we work together to look at ways to learn from patient experience and use this to improve the services for the future.
Single Point of Access Multi-Disciplinary Team in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland
What local people told us
Care home residents and patients often have to repeat their story or share their medical history with multiple organisations. They find this frustrating and also tiring at a time when they are unwell.
What we did
We implemented a ‘single point of access’ multi-disciplinary team for health and social care professionals so that they can refer any patients who need an urgent assessment, non-urgent nursing or therapy services.
This brings together a team of professionals including community nurses; mental health services health; social care services and community therapies.
This way of working will ensure patients get the right services in a timely manner without health and social care professionals having to navigate a number of different referral processes. A skilled and experienced team of clinical professionals can then assess people and refer them to the relevant services. These services can then enable people to remain in their own home with the additional support that they need.
Review of community skin services in Teesside including referral management for dermatology and plastic surgery
What local people told us
Patient feedback from surveys told us most people were happy with the waiting time between referral and their appointment. They were also happy with the quality of care that they received and would recommend the services to others. We wanted to ensure we maintain these positive experiences
What we did
In reviewing the services we identified that there was a lack of real patient choice in terms of who would provide the skin service they needed. We also found that patients were not always accessing the right service for them first time. There was also a lack of understanding by some professionals of how to refer people into the different services.
We revised the referral form for skin services and agreed clear criteria for what should and should not be referred for each service to help professionals when making a referral. We established a Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) to centralise receipt and triage of referrals for dermatology and plastic surgery services. We also set up a ‘see and treat’ dermatology service for people needing to be seen urgently, within two weeks.
Patients now have more choice in who provides their treatment and can be referred to the right provider of services first time. Local GPs have received training in identifying, treating and managing the top 30 skin conditions, and they have been provided with access to desk-top guidance which is more beneficial to patients. Fewer unnecessary lesion removal procedures are also taking place.