Winner
CMFT Rheumatology Transition pathway project
with support from Quintiles
Summary of work
The Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) Rheumatology transition pathway project was developed as a joint working initiative between CMFT and Pfizer Ltd. Project delivery was managed and led by Quintiles.
Starting from a position of no formal pathway for children transitioning from Paediatric to Adult Rheumatology Services, the project was initiated to address this service gap and to ensure a quality experience for young people while also impacting on waiting times and ‘Did not Attends’ (DNAs).
Following agreement of the Project Initiation Document, including project deliverables, objectives and scope, a Project Board was convened with multidisciplinary team (MDT) representation from both the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary plus Pfizer.
After base-lining the current environment a schematic was developed describing the pre-project process.
Over twelve months, using techniques such as patient questionnaires, formal board meetings, demand forecasting, good practice and literature reviews, Kaizen events, ‘Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control’ (DMAIC) and other Lean 6 Sigma methods, new pathways were developed and implemented.
Subsequently a detailed analysis has been developed of the health economic and cost impact of the pathways. Reductions in waiting times and DNA rates will be evaluated by a post-implementation audit.
Judges’ comments
Quintiles worked effectively with the NHS to make this pathway project fit for purpose, addressing a key unmet need. It is a fantastic collaboration on an important topic, with a model that can be extended further.
