Coventry clinic brings tests together to spare patients repeat journeys

Hospital tests can mean repeated journeys, time away from work and days of waiting between appointments. A redesigned clinic in Coventry is bringing more of that care into one visit.

The urology team at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire introduced a one-stop clinic for people being investigated for blood in their urine. Its case study describes combining scans, a bladder examination and clinical decisions on the same day when appropriate, replacing a pathway that could involve up to four visits.

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s new report explains that clinical teams received practical mentoring to plan, test and measure changes. The clinic team also reduced unnecessary gowns, drapes and other supplies.

Early missed-appointment rates fell from around 8% to 2%, according to the team. These are local improvement findings, and the report does not establish how much faster individual patients received a diagnosis.

Still, the immediate benefit is easy to understand: fewer trips, less disruption for carers and more of the information patients need gathered in one place.

Sources

• Centre for Sustainable Healthcare — programme support and new results report
• UHCW clinical team — clinic design, early results and patient experience