Full title
Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRC): Harms on Waiting Lists
Background
Middlesbrough and the surrounding area have been identified as having one of the highest indices of deprivation in the United Kingdom (UK) and alongside this one of the highest rates of long-term sickness and lowest life expectancy.
The Health Determinants Collaboration South Tees (HDRC ST) is working with the South Tees Academic Centre for Surgery (ACeS) and university partners to address the inequalities experienced by those living in the region.
The reduction of inequality in the provision of healthcare has been identified as a major goal for the NHS leading to the introduction of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement programme.
Healthcare inequality can present itself in many different forms and one major example of inequality is the differential impact of harm for patients on surgical waiting lists across the UK.
Gaining a better understanding of the impact on health and employment, and possible harm generated for patients waiting for surgery on a waiting list is essential.
This knowledge allows clinicians and commissioners alike to develop strategies to prevent harm and allocate resources appropriately.
What we are doing
We plan to analyse the Trauma and Orthopaedic surgical waiting list at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a pilot phase, before extending analysis out to all surgical waiting lists.
We will aim to identify areas of inequality and potential harm for patients waiting for surgery.
We aim to develop a key data set to allow accurate and timely identification of harm which can be applied to any surgical waiting list in the UK.
This will initially include data already routinely collected by the Trust, with the aim to further explore other information that could be collected and added to the data set.
Analysis of the waiting list data will allow the trust and the Community teams to identify the key characteristics of those most at risk of harm on waiting lists and allow the monitoring and assessment of the strategies implemented to try to address these inequalities and harms.
Project leads
Ms Emma Reay and Jan Lecouturier
Sponsor
Middlesbrough Council
Funder
Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRC)
Current status
In write-up