Partnered with BHRUT, NEL CCG and NEC Rego, NELFT have been shortlisted for a HSJ award under the category ‘Using data to Connect Services’.

The national HSJ Awards recognise exceptional contributions in healthcare. Now in their 42nd year, the awards continue to provide an opportunity to shine a light on the outstanding efforts and achievements that individuals and teams across the sector deliver on a daily basis.

The implementation of a digital referral tool within the North East London (NEL) Musculoskeletal (MSK) Alliance team has reduced patient referral time down from 24 hours to a mere 3 minutes. This saved the team approximately 3000 hours a year, the equivalent of adding more than one GP back into the system.

In turn, reducing the referral time changes the culture of the service’s delivery whilst improving patient well-being by ensuring patients don’t have to wait too long to see a clinician.

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, said,

“On behalf of all my colleagues, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust, North East London ICB, North East London FT and NEC Rego on being shortlisted as a finalist in the category of ‘Using Data to Connect Services’. All of the applications represent the ‘very best of the NHS’ and often leave our esteemed panel of judges with an impossible choice!’

The awards will be held at the Battersea Evolution Centre on the 17 November this year.