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Response to Letter to the Editor: National re-audit of urology outpatient practice in the UK
British Journal of Medical and Surgical Urology (2009) 2, 263
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Response to Letter to the Editor: National reaudit of urology outpatient practice in the UK Dear Sir, We would like to thank Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien for their views and to congratulate them on reorganising their service so effectively. Our paper has audited national urology outpatient practice and has highlighted the discrepancy between proposed and actual workload. This is clearly a significant issue but it is also a manifold problem for which there is no universal and simple solution, especially if we focus on numbers alone. Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien’s comments about redesigning outpatient provision do provide a potential solution to some of the workload problems and there will be areas in the UK where implementation of this type of practice can be applied effectively. On the other hand, there will also be areas where a numerical shortfall in personnel is an important factor and this should not be disregarded. We should remember that the quality of the patient experience is of particular importance. Ini-
tiatives, such as the National Quality Agenda, which are moving away from simply meeting the number targets, and are looking towards providing a quality service for the patient are to be applauded. The fundamental inertia within the NHS is an obstacle to this type of development but as suggested by Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien, and many other progressive groups in the UK, this can be achieved with the initiative and persistence of clinicians. Andrew Sinclair ∗ Laura Derbyshire Noel Clarke Chris Betts David Shackley Kieran O’Flynn Department of Urology, Salford NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, United Kingdom ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Sinclair) 10 August 2009
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
1875-9742/$ — see front matter © 2009 British Association of Urological Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bjmsu.2009.08.006
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Response to Letter to the Editor: National reaudit of urology outpatient practice in the UK Dear Sir, We would like to thank Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien for their views and to congratulate them on reorganising their service so effectively. Our paper has audited national urology outpatient practice and has highlighted the discrepancy between proposed and actual workload. This is clearly a significant issue but it is also a manifold problem for which there is no universal and simple solution, especially if we focus on numbers alone. Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien’s comments about redesigning outpatient provision do provide a potential solution to some of the workload problems and there will be areas in the UK where implementation of this type of practice can be applied effectively. On the other hand, there will also be areas where a numerical shortfall in personnel is an important factor and this should not be disregarded. We should remember that the quality of the patient experience is of particular importance. Ini-
tiatives, such as the National Quality Agenda, which are moving away from simply meeting the number targets, and are looking towards providing a quality service for the patient are to be applauded. The fundamental inertia within the NHS is an obstacle to this type of development but as suggested by Messrs Nuttall and O’Brien, and many other progressive groups in the UK, this can be achieved with the initiative and persistence of clinicians. Andrew Sinclair ∗ Laura Derbyshire Noel Clarke Chris Betts David Shackley Kieran O’Flynn Department of Urology, Salford NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, United Kingdom ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Sinclair) 10 August 2009
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
1875-9742/$ — see front matter © 2009 British Association of Urological Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bjmsu.2009.08.006