The traditional pathway for endoscopy in Mid Essex was prolonged with unnecessary steps, usually involving an initial clinic appointment, an endoscopy test and a follow up clinic appointment, creating delay and increased cost.
The Mid Essex Hspital Trust and Provide, the community provider, wanted to provide their own community endoscopy service for the local population rather than having to send their patients to a tertiary hospital. They wanted to provide GP direct access to a Community Endoscopy Unit, carried out by expert practitioners overseeing all aspects of patient care and treatment at one central location, enhancing the cancer pathway and making a positive financial impact on the referral process.
Within the newly built Braintree Community Hospital, the Trust established a Community Endoscopy Service for the Mid Essex population, managed and operated by Serco and InHealth. A direct access pathway was established, with the ideal that patients would be seen for their test within 2-4 weeks of referral, with both the patient and their GP receiving instant results.
When Serco gave the Trust notice of its intentions to withdraw from the hospital it became evident that InHealth should manage the service. With the same core values at the heart, InHealth, Braintree Community Hospital and The Mid Essex Healthcare Trust recognised that by working together, a local endoscopy facility could be a reality.
InHealth has collaborated with the Trust to ensure the ongoing provision of a quality endoscopy service to the population of Mid Essex in the Braintree location. This service was vital not only to patients and referring clinicians, but also to the financial viability of the hospital itself through InHealth’s support of the hospital’s finances. InHealth’s model of community endoscopy services offers patients the opportunity to undergo procedures in a local JAG accredited clinical environment, with an outstanding reputation for the highest levels of safety, quality and value.
InHealth now performs over 18,000 endoscopy procedures every year for the NHS from within community and hospital based facilities, and with the patient experience at the heart of this offering, InHealth delivers direct access designed to improve clinical outcomes.
Extremely satisfied with the treatment by all the staff, not only to me, but also to my wife who came with me. Would recommend it as first class.
