Delivering the 18 Weeks Referral to Treatment Standard Output Report

IntroductionForewordThe work of the Dental Specialties Task and Finish Group has been sponsored bythe Scottish Government’s 18 Weeks Referral to Treatment (RTT) OperationalDelivery Team, and ultimately by the Scottish Government’s Health DeliveryDirectorate. The Task and Finish Group, has, from a national perspective,considered how identified risks to delivery across these specialties may beproactively managed, and this report details outputs of this work.The core elements listed below are commended to you by the Operational DeliveryTeam for action. Every Board is therefore expected to ensure that each aspect isfully explored, progressed and embedded appropriately across their HealthCommunity to support timely and high quality patient care. It is essential that allopportunities for streamlined service management and ongoing improvement andtransformation are optimised, with the patient’s interest right at the centre. Deliveryand improvement require whole systems ownership and strong organisationalleadership – both clinical and managerial – in order to operationalise change on asustainable basis. For dental specialties, much of this will take place at theprimary/secondary care interface, as well as requiring a continuing focus on differentways of working in the acute secondary care sector.The core elements commended to Health Communities and NHS Boards forearly action are:1. Ensure high organisational profile of, and clear delivery expectations inrelation to Dental Specialties, with integration into Boards’ existing deliverysystems for all other specialties, including waiting times performancemonitoring and management, service redesign and pathway work.2. Proactively pursue accurate and fit for purpose data capture and its uselocally as a key source of health intelligence. Information should be used forservice planning, including managing the balance of capacity and demand; forhighlighting actions needed for service improvement; and for performancemanagement of waiting times targets. Accurate measurement of 18 weeksRTT for Dental Specialties is also reliant on the uniform application of ‘clockstarts’ and ‘clock stops’ which are set out in detail in the Dental Definitions &Scenarios : http://www.18weeks.scot.nhs.uk/how-to-achieve-and-maintain-18-weeks/task-and-finish-groups/dental-specialties/3. Drive uniform implementation of the agreed common pathways forOrthodontics and Oral Surgery, and ensure these are embedded right acrossthe health community on a sustainable basis, to support equity of access andcare. Implementation of these pathways as commended, will also influencereferral practices and referral thresholds, and engagement should thereforebe initiated with stakeholders across the whole care system to promoteadherence to the pathways.Dental Specialties Task & Finish Group – January 2011 4