FERMANAGH patients who have been waiting on elective surgery have been receiving letters asking them to ‘validate’ whether they still need their operations.
The Herald has been contacted by patients who have received the letters, which require patients to carry out an online survey and only include a QR code and a website address, with no phone number or other contact details provided. The patients are required to fill out the survey within a certain time frame to ensure they stay on the waiting list.
Campaign group Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) said while they agree that “action does need to be taken on surgical waiting lists” they believed the manner in which the letters have been sent was concerning.
“Nobody knows what to do with it,” said a SOAS spokesperson. “There are patients who don’t understand why they would have to answer these questions.”
Expressing concern about the fact patients are being asked if they still require surgeries that a doctor has already decided they need, the spokesperson continued, “The problem is they are being asked to give input they are not able to give.
“They are certainly not able to make medical decisions. They don’t feel it’s up to them to be answering things this.”
SOAS said any patients who had concerns about the letters can contact the group and they will “communicate with the relevant bodies.”
The Western Trust told the ‘Herald the letters were part of a “validation exercise” and were an example of good practice.
“This a validation exercise and we do this periodically across different specialities/services,” said a spokesman.
“The ongoing validation of waiting list(s) has been a directive issued by ECMT over the last number of years, this is also in line with the direction of SPPG WLMU to whom we report validation data on a monthly basis.
“It’s good practice to do this and it’s done by all Trusts in NI and across the UK.
“The QR code is a recognised method of validation across the HSCNI and is viewed as a tried and tested effective approach.
“It’s important we regularly validate whether outpatients still require their assessment as conditions and situations change over time.”
Noting the letter was based on a template from the Belfast Trust, the spokesman continued, “The QR code questionnaire is not requesting the patient to undertake a clinical self-assessment in relation to their procedure.
“However the ask is for patients to indicate if they still require the procedure as in some instances the procedure may have already been undertaken by another health care provider or under ‘Patient Choice’ they no longer want the procedure.”
The spokesman added, “During holiday periods we have less planned activity to enable our hard-working staff to have a well-deserved break and fulfil their annual leave commitments.”
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