- Tech available across Wales used over 143,000 times from December 2023 to November 2024
- Consultant Connect’s dedicated urgent advice lines led to 28,000 patients avoiding unnecessary trips to A&E
- Breakthrough comes at a time when a fifth of the Welsh population are on waiting lists
Telemedicine provider Consultant Connect helped patients in Wales avoid over 58,000 unnecessary hospital visits between December 2023 to November 2024.
Consultant Connect’s technology connects NHS clinicians across the UK, such as GPs and paramedics, with hospital consultants for expert advice and guidance. At a time when a fifth of the Welsh population are sitting on waiting lists, this service helps to ensure patients receive the right care immediately and they are only referred to hospital when absolutely necessary, reducing wait times for everyone.
Consultant Connect was commissioned by the Welsh Government in 2020, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its usage has increased dramatically since then. In the last twelve months, healthcare staff across Wales placed 127,000 calls and sent 16,000 messages for specialist advice using Consultant Connect.
Before Consultant Connect was rolled out in Wales, healthcare professionals would have to call the hospital switchboard to ask to speak to either a consultant or a department. Often calls would go unanswered or clinicians had to wait for specialists to call back, which could sometimes take hours.
Now, clinicians in Wales use Consultant Connect to directly ‘hunt down’ a specialist consultant from a pre-defined rota for expert telephone advice. They can contact hospital teams in as many as 55 specialties (depending on the locality), with phone calls answered in an average of under 30 seconds, and messages within 14 hours on average. This streamlines communication as no time is wasted on busy switchboards or bleeps.
Consultant Connect found that half of all calls and messages led to the avoidance of 58,000 unnecessary hospital visits from December 2023. More than 28,000 of these patients avoided unnecessary A&E attendances thanks to the use of urgent advice lines. This not only ensures that patients get the best care, but also provides huge cost savings by keeping patients out of hospital unnecessarily.
Jonathan Patrick, CEO of Consultant Connect said: “Long waiting times are a huge issue for the NHS across the UK. By making it easier for GPs and paramedics to get expert advice, NHS Wales enables half of all patients to get the care they need immediately, rather than having to wait for a hospital appointment. Those patients that do need to go to hospital are sent to the right place, first time, and with the right degree of urgency. This means that patients get better care, hospital clinicians only see patients they need to see and waiting lists are minimised.
It's an added bonus that this approach has also saved NHS Wales money in saved hospital appointments so far, and these savings are only the beginning. We predict that with the support of NHS executives and the local health boards to develop a clear strategy to continue adoption over the next twelve months, it could result in 65,000 patients avoiding an unnecessary hospital visit with savings continuing to increase.
Brett Denning, Assistant Director of planned care, NHS Executive said: "The widespread adoption of Consultant Connect by NHS Wales clinicians showcases our commitment to continually improving patient care through technological innovation. We are immensely proud of how our doctors, nurses, paramedics and other clinicians, across NHS Wales have embraced the technology. This adoption is a testament to their dedication to using innovative tools to enhance patient care. By using Consultant Connect, our healthcare professionals are able to provide timely and effective treatment, reducing unnecessary hospital visits and improving patient outcomes."