DIAGNOS TICS
Diagnosing patients in the ‘new normal’
Living life remotely has become almost common practice for us all during the national lockdown – but is it time for hospitals to further embrace remote technology to deal with the backlog of patients following COVID-19? Clarissa Pattinson, diagnostics specialist at HealthTrust Europe, discusses how outsourcing diagnostic services, such as histopathology reporting, to providers may be the answer to the elective care crisis.
As we start to come to terms with the fact that things may never go back to the way they were before the COVID-19 outbreak, we must begin looking at how to overcome the obstacles we face as we broach the ‘new normal.’ This is particularly true for the NHS which currently faces an unexpected side effect of the COVID-19 outbreak: the elective care crisis. As we continue to navigate our way out of the initial crisis, it is clear that COVID-19 is not the only health threat we are faced with as a nation, and we must now work together to find innovative solutions to tackle these new problems. Pre-lockdown, the UK was already on the cusp of an elective care crisis – waiting times for elective treatments are the longest they have been since 2009, and the number of hospital outpatient visits has nearly doubled over the past decade.1
The elective care
system was already under intense pressure to provide cancer, stroke and heart care services, and the enforced lockdown and sudden cancellation of almost all planned care from March onwards has compounded this crisis to severe levels. In fact, the latest figures reveal that the number of elective care hospital appointments that took place during the lockdown period dropped to approximately a quarter of their usual levels2 compared to before the lockdown, and the number remains extremely low despite hospitals prioritising how to approach elective care safely now that the peak of COVID-19 has been overcome. Unfortunately, hospitals across the UK simply were not prepared for a situation as severe as COVID-19, and there was no ‘backup plan’ in place to allow for ongoing elective care treatments. The decision to cancel elective care appointments and
NOVEMBER 2020
treatments is, of course, not one that was taken lightly. Unfortunately, during the peak of the virus, it was not feasible to allow elective or suspected elective patients into healthcare settings risking being among highly infectious COVID-19 patients, as we now know that COVID-19 is far more fatal for people who already have complicated healthcare issues, such as cancer.3 As a result, hundreds of thousands of people across the nation have been unable to access elective care for months. The impact of this is that potentially fatally ill people have gone undiagnosed with illnesses during this time and many have gone without vital treatment. Sadly, we know that delaying access to elective care has significant detrimental implications on treatment times and patient outcomes and, in this case, patients in
need of elective care could face the fatal consequences of elective care cancellations.
What problems do the NHS currently face?
The fundamental issue is that the NHS currently lacks the resources and capacity to tackle COVID-19 simultaneously with the backlog of elective care.4
There simply
are not enough staff members to meet demand, and there is a lack of suitable spaces in hospitals. Due to the ongoing pandemic, social distancing is still absolutely necessary – particularly in hospitals – and this creates a significant problem in terms of hospital capacity and the speed at which staff can work. Stringent cleaning practices mean that more staff time is needed to ensure the highest standard of cleanliness is met at all times, and appointment times
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