New targets set after 'continuous improvement' in MSG services

Friday 08 February 2019

The Medical Specialist Group wants to address waiting times for orthopaedic patients as its next priority now it has improved services in other areas, according to its performance against some States set 'key performance indicators'.

In its annual report, the MSG has proven that overall waiting list times have improved, re-admissions are below the predicted average and most people would recommend the health care services they received to other people.

The data has been gathered since the new contract between the MSG and the Committee for Health and Social Care was launched on the 1 January 2018, to ensure the best possible standard of Secondary Healthcare services across the Bailiwick.

As part of that contract, a range of KPIs were agreed by HSC and the MSG covering:

1. Professional Compliance
2. Patient Safety & Experience
3. Waiting Times
4. Outpatient Measures
5. Inpatient Measures
6. Patient Focus

This is the first time such data is available publicly with both HSC and the MSG wanting to collect it to "illustrate the performance of a key service delivery relationship within the developing HSC ‘Partnership of Purpose’ which seeks to align all healthcare partners for the benefit of patients and provide clarity about how services are performing."

Pictured: One of the KPIs the MSG needed to address was waiting times. You can read all of the results here. 

Of the KPIs set, the MSG had to address waiting times, which it says it has done.

Compared to previously, during 2018 91.2% of patients at the Emergency Department were seen within an allocated time, compared to a target of 95%. The MSG said some unavoidable waits include if a surgeon is busy elsewhere. 

There were much longer waits for radiology services with just 76.8% seen within the targeted time, against an actual target of 95%.

The MSG report says; "Guernsey does not have a wide pool of professional clinical staff available to deliver these services, which means that when key individuals within a service such as Radiology become unavoidably absent for personal reasons, delays can sometimes occur. Despite this happening earlier in 2018, this KPI has improved over the year from 63.7% in April 2018 to 83% by year end. The average for the year was 76.8%."

The MSG believes most patients are happy with the services provided too, as a feedback tool, called the Family and Friends Test, found 75% would recommend their services.

Dr Peter Rabey, HSC Medical Director said: 

“I am delighted to publish the performance measures for the Secondary Healthcare Contract today, and demonstrate our commitment to openness and the continuous improvement of all our services. The contract we have with MSG provides some of our most critical services to the public and it is right that its performance and areas for improvement are communicated each year. We have designed the summary to present this information as clearly and accessibly as possible and we provide further, more detailed information in an accompanying document to support it. 

"Whilst HSC and the MSG always seek to deliver the best service possible, both partners are committed to continuous improvement, and these performance measures will allow all our teams to focus their attention on areas that are below the high targets we have set ourselves. As an example, our dedicated initiative to drive down waiting times for orthopaedic outpatients in 2018 was very successful, but we must now very clearly improve the waiting times for orthopaedic inpatient surgery, and our teams are working to deliver this work, which will further improve our performance level”.

Dr Gary Yarwood, MSG Chairman commented: 

“All our staff work hard in partnership with HSC to provide excellent services for the people of the Bailiwick, and I am proud of the performances we achieve. There are always areas for improvement, and I welcome the opportunity to publish and benchmark ourselves against our peers. The measures we have adopted allow us to focus our attention on the issues and challenges we face and this information, together with the Annual Report for MSG provides a comprehensive set of information for the public and all our stakeholders.”