Outpatient and elective (inpatient and daycase) booking

The percentage of first outpatient appointments that were pre-booked and the percentage of elective (inpatient and day case) admissions that were pre-booked

Rationale

The NHS Plan sets the target that by the end of 2005 all patients will go through a booking system giving a choice of a convenient time within a guaranteed maximum waiting time to replace the current waiting list for appointments and admission. The Priorities and Planning Framework (2003-06) sets out the target by March 2004, two thirds of all first outpatient and elective admissions to be pre-booked.

Thresholds

Legend
Achieved		67% or more of outpatients and 67% or more of elective patients booked
Underachieved	-	50% or more of outpatients booked and 50% or more of elective patients booked but less than 67% for either outpatient or elective booking
Significantly underachieved	x	Less than 50% of outpatients booked or less than 50% of elective patients booked

Trusts that exhibit a small number of patients (fewer than 200 outpatients in the denominator of the indicator construction) have been given a 'Data not available' score for the outpatient booking component of the target for the purposes of ratings. Their performance is based solely upon the elective booking component of the target.

Data source and period

Monthly booking return (Financial year 2004/05)

Construction

Numerator 1:
The number of new decisions to admit as an elective (ordinary inpatient or day case) admission where the patient was fully or partially booked. This value will be the sum of the number of patients across all 12 months.

Denominator 1:
The number of new decisions to admit as an elective (ordinary inpatient or day case) admission within the month. This value will be the number of new decisions to admit in the month summed across all 12 months.

This is calculated by dividing Numerator 1 by Denominator 1 and multiplying by 100 to express it as a percentage.

Numerator 2:
The number of patients added to the outpatient list, where source is GP written referral, and where the patient was fully or partially booked. This value will be the sum of the number of patients across all 12 months.

Denominator 2:
The number of patients added each month to the outpatient waiting list for first outpatient appointment where source is GP written. The value will be the number of patients added to the waiting list each month, summed across all 12 months.

This is calculated by dividing Numerator 2 by Denominator 2 and multiplying by 100 to express it as a percentage.

Overall Indicator:
This indicator contains two measures, which have been combined using a matrix to determine a level of performance.