Leeds Teaching Hospitals have outlined a new plan to reduce outpatient waiting lists in a bid to free up appointments for those who really need them. The plan will see the Trust committed to contacting more than 20,000 people on their non-urgent waiting lists including those who have been waiting more than three months for a new appointment.
Patients will be contacted and their conditions will be checked with the Trust then offering further appointments if needed. Any patient who does not need or want an appointment will be removed from the list.
A pilot scheme has taken place in one specialist area which saw 20 percent of people either saying they neither needed an appointment as their symptoms had changed or they had pursued other treatment.
