Outpatient Transformation (SBRI CHALLENGE)

Tender description

The way outpatient services are being delivered in Wales is undergoing a period of Transformation to ensure that it delivers the care for patients in a prudent and value-based way for a sustainable health-care model for the future. COVID has led to a significant backlog in review of referrals in secondary care and as capacity is not going to match demand, innovative ways of managing patients differently to reduce unnecessary referrals are eagerly sought. COVID has also provided a trigger for a more rapid adoption of the change process leading to the use of more digital solutions such as virtual working and contacts with patients made electronically. There is the need to ensure the correct patients access secondary care services with an emphasis to support more activity in the primary care and community setting, as well as a more self-directed model of care. Clinically this has been recognised as the future model of care and is a core component of the national strategy for future health as described in our core Welsh Health policy: ‘A Healthier Wales’.