Changes to Orthopaedic Choice referrals
News
WHCCG and Orthopaedic Choice have been working together to reduce potential delays to referrals, and request that all referrals to the service include the patients’ BMI in addition to the clinical data (such as medication, medical history and smoking status) as without this information there may be delays to the referral.
WHCCG commissioned additional capacity within Orthopaedic Choice to manage referrals more effectively and reduce the patient waiting times to a maximum of six weeks. The service currently receives around 1,800 referrals per month, and a significant proportion of these do not include a recorded BMI. Including BMI in referrals will improve the process and save clinical time.
In support of this change, the WHCCG Referral Support Service (RSS) is introducing a referral triage service (RAS) for Orthopaedic Choice on 28 February. Based on six body parts, it will enable Orthopaedic Choice to message GP practices directly to request any additional information including BMI without rejecting the referral. Practices signed up with the RSS should continue to refer into the RSS service to ensure the clinical peer review can take place.
