Case Studies

Our foresight is helping to save eyesight

The Challenge

One PCT in Eastern and Coastal Kent was forced to withdraw its weekly ophthalmic clinics held at a local hospital, due to consultant shortages.  Having already witnessed a decline in health services in the area, the PCT wanted a solution that would mean patients could still get care closer to home without having to travel the extra 30-40 miles to receive treatment.

The Solution

Working closely with commissioners, community services and the PCT, DMC Healthcare launched a weekend ophthalmology clinic at the local community hospital. The service set out to see the majority of patients within three weeks of referral.

Within a week of launch, DMC Healthcare achieved 12 new referrals with 30 follow-up patients seen at the first two clinics. To date, the service has received positive feedback from GPs, optometrists and patients.

 

Taking the headache away from secondary care

The Challenge

80% of the population suffer from episodic headaches. Many are easily treated through simple analgesia, but some require further treatment. Given the high number of referrals to the neurology outpatients clinic at one London borough hospital, an additional headache service was needed to  reduce waiting times and free up secondary care to focus on more complex neurological problems.

The Solution

Evolution, which DMC Healthcare forms one half of, provided patients with a choice of clinic where they could get weekly advice and treatment for a variety of headache conditions from the difficult to manage migraine, to the chronic daily headache and cluster headache. Patients attending the clinics are seen by GPs with Specialist Interests (GPSIs) and links to Kings College and Guy’s & St. Thomas’s hospitals who arrange investigations and provide management advice to GPs.

 

Reducing physiotherapy waiting times and improving patient choice

The Challenge

Approximately 60% of patient cases referred to secondary care presenting with musculoskeletal problems only require physiotherapy treatment. Offering a physiotherapy advisory service in a community-based setting, would help to remove costly referrals, while effectively and efficiently treating the patient closer to home.

The Solution

Working together with esph, DMC Healthcare recently won a tender to provide a physiotherapy advice line to a PCT in northern England. Patients can get advice six days a week from 8am until 10pm without the need to be seen either by a primary care clinician or an acute trust consultant. The telephone-based service provides assessment, diagnosis and management for musculoskeletal problems with appropriate patients being referred to Clinical Assessment Service, Community Physiotherapy and Musculoskeletal Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service (MICATS).

The service has successfully helped to reduce the number of repeat physiotherapy appointments in a course of treatment, while improving waiting times for care.

 

Promoting long-term heart and circulatory health

The Challenge

Heart and circulatory disease is the UK’s biggest killer. Each local authority is tasked with providing preventative measures to tackle this problem. One PCT wanted to reduce hospital admissions and provide a better way to help manage and monitor heart and lung problems longer-term within the community.

The Solution

Working with City Diagnostics, DMC Healthcare equipped GPs at its practices with 7-day and 24/48 hour ECG monitors to measure and record heartbeats in patients with suspected heart or circulatory problems. This, combined with a patient event diary would help cardiac physiologists to advise on treatment and future management of heart and lung problems close to home.

This has helped prevent unnecessary admission of patients to the acute hospital by enabling the patient to remain at home with appropriate support, as well as facilitating the early discharge of patients from hospital who can now get relevant support locally.