Improve quality and effectiveness of patient care
The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) provided around 550,000 outpatient attendances annually in 2016/2017 in a multi-site model including the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH), Bracknell Healthspace, Townlands Memorial Hospital and West Berkshire Community Hospital. The majority of outpatient attendances were at the main RBH site in Reading. This contributed to increased traffic, congestion and oversubscription to car parking. It also resulted in a lack of space to develop new services and facilities on the RBH site. The problems faced by RBFT outpatients were not unique. The Royal College of Physicians' (RCP's) report on outpatients of the future states that this traditional model of outpatient care is no longer fit for purpose.1 The NHS long-term plan aims to reduce up to a third of the face-to-face appointments delivered by outpatient services by the use of technology and giving patients greater control of their appointments.2
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