A Teesside-based healthcare trust has been supporting a community partnership project that will help Hartlepool patients access care and actively reduce ‘did not attend’ (DNA) appointment rates.
To understand the barriers to care patients may face, volunteers spent two days over August simulating getting from Hartlepool to the University Hospital of North Tees for an appointment.
The project was carried out in collaboration with the Hartlepool Transport User Forum, Healthwatch Hartlepool, Hartlepool Community Trust, Hartlepool Carers with support from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.
Hartlepool Community Trust Engagement Worker and Young Persons Social Prescriber Capacity Builder, Dawn Robinson said: “We’ve been working with volunteers over two days to understand the challenges for patients who are coming from Hartlepool to get to an appointment in North Tees in decent time.
“We know it isn’t always an easy prospect for those without a vehicle and having to navigate public transport. Sometimes it is also about understanding how we make sure that patients know all the different transport options available as for example, not everyone is aware of the hospital shuttle bus or hospital volunteer drivers.
“Our willing volunteers have been brilliant – they were given a mock appointment time at the University Hospital of North Tees and a logbook to track their route from Hartlepool.
“They also used a mix of digital maps and digital and paper timetables to reflect the different ways that patients may access transport information to help them get to an appointment.
“One of our volunteers was local MP Jonathan Brash, who took just under two hours to get from his front door to the hospital.”
“We hope that the project will help us to understand the current transport offer and inform bus companies, the hospital and others so that we can help Hartlepool patients to get to their appointments.”
All the data recorded from the project and an earlier, similar report done by Healthwatch in 2013, will contribute to understanding any barriers to accessing care for patients living in Hartlepool. It will then be shared with bus companies, Tees Flex and the hospital.
Tobi Daniels, personalised care coordinator said: “It’s important that we can look at ways of reducing wasted appointments and supporting patients access to care.”
“Each outpatient appointment can cost £160 per patient – so looking at ways to decrease the number of missed appointments and understanding the barriers to patients getting to their appointments is not only a cost saving exercise, but about improving their care pathway.”