Scottish health board using analytics to cut mental health waiting times

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has reduced waiting times for young patients with mental health problems by running analytics on its electronic booking system.

The health board used data from provided by Emis Web to identify spare slots and book them accordingly.

The functionality has enabled clinicians to offer approximately 1,000 more patients a month than in 2014, when the health board relied on paper records.

The system, which is being used for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), has also reduced the waiting for a first appointment from one year to six weeks, and enabled NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to check demand and plan capacity 13 weeks in advance.

Scott Wilson, senior information analyst at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “Before Emis Web, the only way we could gather data was through manual searches, which took hours. We had paper diaries for individual clinicians, with no formal capacity planning.

“Now we can gather data in minutes, and appointment booking is much quicker.”

One hundred and twenty clinicians care for 4,800 CAMHS patients across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The health board is also using data analysis via Emis Web to look at ‘did not attend’ (DNA) patterns for local populations, to see how they can work with families to cut missed appointments.

Wilson added: “If someone phones up to change an appointment it is much easier to do that, and offer their slot to another patient. It means patients are being seen more quickly, and clinicians are offering better care to more young people. Informatics staff who used to spend their time counting are now analysing and supporting planning.”

Electronic data analysis has additionally enabled NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde  to produce performance data for service managers within minutes, rather than it taking half a day through manual searches.