Case study

Department of Health

Achieving performance breakthrough in the most challenged surgical speciality in England

In June 2003, there were 66,805 patients who were waiting more than six months for orthopaedic surgery. This was the surgical speciality that faced the biggest challenge in the country with respect to waiting times.

Reducing wait times for surgery is fundamental to the creation of a patient centred NHS. Ensuring fast access to treatment is key to the delivery of the NHS Plan, which sets out a series of stretching and aggressive access targets, including that by December 2005 no one should wait longer than six months for an operation and by 2008 no patient will wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to hospital treatment.

PA Consulting Group played a key role working in partnership with the Department of Health, the NHS Modernisation Agency and the British Orthopaedic Association  to design and deliver the National Orthopaedic Project’s Tailored Support Programme (TSP), which brought specialised, focused support to where it was needed most to bring about these changes.