Hand surgery waiting times reduced thanks to GP and hospital partnership

A community hand surgery service led by East Kent Hospitals consultants in partnership with local GPs has cut waiting times from one year to less than eight weeks.

The partnership has allowed almost 1,500 patients to have smaller procedures at GP practices in Whitstable and Faversham over the past three years.

It also means waiting times for more complicated procedures have been reduced, as hospital theatre time is not taken up with smaller surgeries.

Consultant orthopaedic and hand surgeon Mr Chris James, who runs the service alongside fellow consultants Mr Andrew Smith, Mr Jeremy Stanton and Mr Mark Williamson, said: “This has been huge improvement for our hand surgery department, and the patient satisfaction has been outstanding.

“The initiative exemplifies the power of collaboration with primary care. It has effectively reduced patient contact points, reduced the waiting time for surgery and directly enhanced patient outcomes. 

“By transferring small procedures from the main theatre lists to primary care, we’ve been able to provide quicker treatment for these patients and allow more complex cases to receive surgery at the elective orthopaedic centre at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and orthopaedic theatres across the Trust.”

Patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the improvements in care, service quality, and surgical outcomes. Typical procedures that can be carried out in the community include trigger finger release, carpal tunnel release and ganglion surgery.

One patient said: “The whole procedure from GP appointment to surgical procedure was faultless. I was very impressed with the medical centre, so clean and efficient.”

Another added: "Such a smooth and professional appointment and procedure, I couldn’t rate this highly enough."

The team thanked Dr Gupta from Faversham Medical Practice, Dr Ribchester from Estuary View Medical Centre in Whitstable as well as the East Kent Hospitals’ orthopaedic management team for their support.