The RCP has responded to NHS England’s performance statistics publication which shows a steep rise in Advice and Guidance requests in recent years.
Responding to the statistics, Dr Hilary Williams, RCP clinical vice president, said:
"Specialist Advice and Guidance is now a key part of the NHS’s approach to ensuring patients get the right care without unnecessary delay. Since June 2022, requests have risen by 66.3%and specialists in England are now receiving over a million requests every month.
“This system has helped keep millions of requests off waiting lists and is a welcome part of getting patients specialist input at an early point in their care journey. As more and more clinicians make use of this system, we have to make sure specialists have dedicated time to respond to requests. In an RCP snapshot survey of members earlier this year, 50% of those delivering advice and guidance said they had no time in their job plan for it. That means many doctors are providing this service on top of their usual duties, adding to an already intense workload.
“The RCP’s new job planning guidance is clear: referral management must be recognised as a distinct clinical activity with dedicated time in job plans. We are keen to move in modern, agile ways which means making space for waiting list management, supervision of multi-disciplinary team colleagues, and responding to patient portal queries, all of which are now central to modern medical practice.
“The end goal must be healthcare services that are truly integrated, so that what are currently different parts of the system, such as primary, community and specialist care, work seamlessly together in a new model where patients are assessed and treated by the right clinician at the right time. But right now, to ensure all patients can benefit from early specialist input, we need to make sure doctors have time."