5. ACTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE
5.1.8 What progress has been made in achieving
the 18-week referral-to-treatment maximum waiting target? Please
provide the most recent data and a commentary. (Q47)
Answer
1. The available information is given in
tables 47a and 47b and figures 47a and 47b.
2. The data is collated by Department of
Health members of the Government Statistical Service and published
in accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice. The
Department feels that the referral to treatment (RTT) data is
fit to be considered a national statistic, and on 23 February
2009 the Secretary of State for Health wrote to the chair of the
UK Statistics Authority to request a formal national statistics
assessment for the data. The assessment will be completed by the
end of 2009.
3. NHS trusts submit monthly returns to
the Department via its "Unify2" data collection system.
The returns contain counts of numbers of patients whose RTT period
ended in a particular month and counts of numbers of RTT patients
who are still waiting at the end of the month. Details of the
length of time waited, within one-week time bands, by treatment
function are collected. Data for each provider are broken down
by commissioner (PCT).
4. Providers are required to submit data
by the thirteenth working day after the month end. Commissioners
then have ten further working days in which to check the data.
Providers may re-upload returns if changes are needed, and commissioners
can then sign off data. The Department of Health team then applies
a number of central validation checks on the data, looking for
missing or outlying data. Anomalous figures are queried and resolved
with data suppliers.
5. In addition to the validation checks
described above, the Department makes an assessment of data completeness
each month for each organisation by comparing the numbers of submitted
RTT pathways with expected numbers of pathways based on other
data sources. Data completeness figures are published alongside
the RTT figures.
6. Validations are used to challenge and
correct apparently erroneous data. Initially, validation focused
on completed RTT waits. More recently, the validation focus has
turned to numbers of patients still waiting. This work is expected
to further strengthen the whole RTT dataset.
7. From 1 January 2009, the minimum expectation
of consultant-led elective services will be that no one should
wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred to the
start of their hospital treatment, unless it is clinically appropriate
to do so or they choose to wait longer.
8. The minimum operational delivery standards
for the NHS in 2009-10 are that 90% of admitted patients and 95%
of non-admitted patients will start treatment within 18 weeks
of referral. These standards allow for patients who choose to
wait longer or where it is clinically appropriate for patients
to wait longer.
9. Latest data show that since January 2009
the NHS nationally has been delivering the minimum operational
standards for 18 weeks to ensure that no one should wait more
than 18 weeks from the time they are referred to the start of
their consultant-led treatment, unless it is clinically appropriate
to do so or they choose to wait longer.
10. NHS waiting times are the shortest since
NHS records began, with a median wait of around eight weeks from
referral to admitted patient treatment and around four weeks from
referral to non-admitted patient treatment in May 2009 (latest
published data). Figures for June 2009 show that:
— 93.6% of patients whose treatment involved
admission to hospital started their treatment within 18 weeks;
and
— 97.8% of patients whose treatment did
not involve admission to hospital started their treatment within
18 weeks.
Table 47a
PROGRESS TOWARD ACHIEVING THE 18-WEEK REFERRAL
TO TREATMENT MAXIMUM WAITING TARGET
|
| Date | % admitted (1)
| % non-
admitted
| Trajectory
admitted
| Trajectory
non-admitted
|
|
| March 2007 | 48.0
| |
| |
| April 2007 | 51.0
| | 35.0
| |
| May 2007 | 53.0
| | 38.0
| |
| June 2007 | 54.0
| | 42.0
| |
| July 2007 | 54.0
| | 46.0
| |
| August 2007 | 56.0
| 76.1 | 50.0
| 75.0 |
| September 2007 | 57.1
| 75.5 | 54.0
| 77.0 |
| October 2007 | 60.0
| 77.0 | 59.0
| 79.0 |
| November 2007 | 63.0
| 77.0 | 64.0
| 81.0 |
| December 2007 | 64.0
| 79.0 | 68.0
| 83.0 |
| January 2008 | 68.9
| 82.3 | 73.0
| 85.0 |
| February 2008 | 75.1
| 86.1 | 79.0
| 88.0 |
| March 2008 | 87.1
| 93.4 | 80.0
| 91.0 |
| April 208 | 86.7
| 92.9 | 81.0
| 91.5 |
| May 2008 | 88.6
| 93.8 | 83.0
| 92.0 |
| June 2008 | 88.9
| 94.4 | 84.0
| 92.5 |
| July 2008 | 89.9
| 95.0 | 85.0
| 93.0 |
| August 2008 | 90.3
| 95.3 | 86.0
| 93.5 |
| September 2008 | 90.2
| 95.7 | 87.0
| 94.0 |
| October 2008 | 90.6
| 96.3 | 88.0
| 94.5 |
| November 2008 | 90.6
| 96.5 | 89.0
| 94.8 |
| December 2008 | 92.8
| 97.1 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| January 2009 | 92.9
| 97.3 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| February 2009 | 92.7
| 97.3 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| March 2009 | 93.0
| 97.4 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| April 2009 | 93.3
| 97.4 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| May 2009 | 93.7
| 97.8 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
| June 2009 | 93.6
| 97.8 | 90.0
| 95.0 |
|
| Source: |
| Knowledge and Intelligence, DH |
| Footnotes: |
| 1. Admitted figures for March 2008 onwards are adjusted to take account of patients who choose to wait before being admitted to hospital for treatment. Admitted figures up to February 2008 are unadjusted.
|
Table 47b
WAITING TIMES FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS
|
| Date | Number of waits
over 6 weeks in 15
key tests
| Number of waits
over 13 weeks in 15
key tests
| Number of waits
over 6 weeks for
other diagnostic tests
|
|
| April 2006 | 404,198
| 203,114 |
|
| May 2006 | 387,883
| 196,249 |
|
| June 2006 | 363,426
| 191,370 | 435,000
|
| July 2006 | 359,002
| 180,633 |
|
| August 2006 | 371,348
| 186,060 |
|
| September 2006 | 351,827
| 179,615 | 286,000
|
| October 2006 | 366,853
| 200,843 |
|
| November 2006 | 349,227
| 182,846 |
|
| December 2006 | 380,259
| 191,385 | 186,600
|
| January 2007 | 350,822
| 167,826 |
|
| February 2007 | 276,824
| 141,864 |
|
| March 2007 | 243,191
| 109,094 | 101,500
|
| April 2007 | 249,482
| 105,935 |
|
| May 2007 | 224,972
| 100,409 |
|
| June 2007 | 211,004
| 94,791 | 87,600
|
| July 2007 | 186,154
| 83,068 |
|
| August 2007 | 174,066
| 71,784 |
|
| September 2007 | 140,052
| 55,760 | 69,200
|
| October 2007 | 114,296
| 45,675 |
|
| November 2007 | 89,905
| 32,290 |
|
| December 2007 | 86,185
| 25,464 | 44,400
|
| January 2008 | 67,473
| 16,857 |
|
| February 2008 | 33,121
| 8,436 |
|
| March 2008 | 12,904
| 3,520 | 12,600
|
| April 208 | 12,021
| 2,742 |
|
| May 2008 | 11,751
| 2,710 |
|
| June 2008 | 10,083
| 1,986 | 7,000
|
| July 2008 | 11,088
| 4,088 |
|
| August 2008 | 10,494
| 3,341 |
|
| September 2008 | 6,616
| 2,517 | 7,500
|
| October 2008 | 6,115
| 2,453 |
|
| November 2008 | 4,839
| 1,651 |
|
| December 2008 | 5,703
| 1,074 | 6,300
|
| January 2009 | 5,686
| 1,005 |
|
| February 2009 | 3,470
| 769 |
|
| March 2009 | 2,837
| 298 | 5,300
|
| April 2009 | 4,007
| 231 |
|
| May 2009 | 3,890
| 319 |
|
| June 2009 | 3,935
| 310 | 5,800
|
|
| Source: |
| Diagnostics monthly collection (DM01), quarterly diagnostic census
|
|
