Dermatology: Waiting Lists

(asked on 6th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to tackle variations in the 18-week referral to treatment waiting time for dermatology services.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 14th February 2019

Clinical commissioning groups are putting in place initiatives to help better manage the increasing demand for dermatology services. This has included developing clear multidisciplinary pathways and care models that address patients’ physical and psychological needs, better use of teledermatology as well as a clear model for community dermatology; using nurses, pharmacists and general practitioners with extended roles to ensure that patients receive the right treatment and care in the most appropriate setting.

The National Health Service has worked with local sites and published a handbook that describes what local health and care systems can do to transform dermatology elective care services at pace, why this is necessary and how the impact of this transformation can be measured. Practical guidance for implementing and adopting a range of interventions locally is included to help ensure patients see the right person, in the right place, first time.

The dermatology handbook can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dermatology-elective-care-handbook-v1.pdf

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