Lot 3 - Community ENT - Southwest Hampshire

The service provides consultant led Community ENT services to the population of Southwest Hampshire (formerly covered by West Hampshire CCG). The service provides a single point of access for routine ENT referrals, and treats all conditions suitable for management and treatment in a community setting including: • Ear • Hearing loss unilateral and bilateral where not thought to be age related (55yrs) to the Adult hearing Aid Service, following the hearing aid pathway • Conditions requiring surgical opinion/resolution The overall aim of the service is to improve the quality of life, through diagnosis and treatment, for people with ear, nose or throat problems in the community and to reduce the need for unnecessary secondary care referrals by providing a service which supports primary care and the wider health system. As such, the service is expected to: • Reduce referrals into the secondary care environment, providing care delivered in the community where appropriate; aiming for a new to follow-up out-patient activity 1:0.2 in year • Ensure positive experiences for patients treated in the service • Provide timely assessment, diagnosis and treatment, measured as 100% adherence to referral to treatment standards • Deliver activity levels contained within agreed plans • Provide rapid onward referral where necessary, measured as maximum 3 working days • Clinically triage all referrals within 48 hours of receipt and identify the appropriate pathway. The status of referrals deemed incomplete, sub-optimal or inappropriate will be clarified with the referrer and actioned within a further 48 hours of this assessment. • Provide GP and General Practitioner with Extended Role (GPwER) educational forums in collaboration with secondary care providers at least annually • Ensure patients with age related hearing loss are offered a choice of hearing aid provider. The service provides high quality and cost effective services to ensure that all patients are treated appropriately in line with adopted NICE clinical guidelines and mandatory technical appraisals, including local Individual Funding Request Policy Guidelines, clinical thresholds and referral criteria. The service is expected to achieve all local and national waiting time targets and other key national and local key quality and performance targets. The majority of referrals are received from GPs or primary care team members with referral rights. However, referrals from secondary care are accepted, for patients assessed as needing specialist level management or ongoing follow-up which is beyond the normal scope of general practice but not requiring hospital based care and expertise (in line with Consultant to Consultant Policy). The service accepts referrals from South West Hampshire Adult Hearing Aid service providers for assessment or ongoing aural toilet. The provider has agreed referral criteria to and from secondary care and adult hearing aid providers with clinical colleagues to facilitate effective clinical pathways. The provider is a key partner in delivery of care in the local area and as such is expected to work in a collaborative and integrated fashion. This requires clinical collaboration with providers across the health system, adhering to locally-agreed pathways,