The pandemic has resulted in large numbers of patients waiting to access NHS services across the country. As we recover from Covid-19, we’re focusing on resuming planned care and reducing our backlog of appointments.

As part of this effort, we’ve been holding ‘super clinics’ to ensure our patients get the care they need.

These new initiatives typically involve different teams and services across our Trust completing a large number of appointments and procedures over a short period of time – whether that be a dedicated day, weekend, or week.

Recently, our Urology department held two super clinics on separate days, both on a weekend. The first saw an impressive 72 patients and the second an incredible 120.

Surbjit Kudhail, the team’s Patient Pathway Manager, said: “It was an amazing collaborative effort from all the consultants, nurses, and reception staff involved. On top of our normal services, the super clinics allowed us to tackle the backlog of patients waiting for an appointment, whether it was their first consultation or a follow-up.

“For our patients, the experience was the same as if they had attended during the week. People are actually very often happy to attend appointments on the weekends for various reasons, such as being unable to get the time off work.”

“Not only do the clinics mean we can see more patients but they also offer a greater flexibility for our services.”

Those invited to attend the clinics were contacted the same way they would be for a normal appointment; by a letter followed up with a phone call to confirm their attendance; as well as text message reminders.

Surbjit added: “Both clinics were very successful, it’s really important patients know we can still safely care for them. Covid-19 has been our biggest challenge but initiatives such as the super clinics show our Trust’s recovery plans are effective in action.”

Our Trauma and Orthopaedics team also recently held a special ‘Bones R Us’ super clinic, a focused effort across five days, resulting in the team seeing 60 patients waiting for surgery.

While reassuring communities that we can offer them the care they need, the safety of our patients and staff remains our top priority. This is why we’re encouraging patients and visitors coming to our hospitals to take a lateral flow test.