Worthing Hospital clinic helps hundreds of patients access specialist care
Hundreds of patients waiting for specialist care were seen at Worthing Hospital during a dedicated ‘Super Saturday’ clinic.
Specialist clinical teams saw 260 patients in just one day during the event on Saturday, September 19.
Patients attended clinics for assessment, review and advice on a range of vascular conditions, including peripheral arterial disease, varicose veins, leg swelling, venous ulceration and other circulatory problems that can affect mobility, cause discomfort and impact day-to-day life.
The event brought together consultants, registrars, nurses and support staff to provide ‘rapid access’ to vascular outpatient appointments for patients who had often been waiting around a year to be seen.
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex) said the initiative is believed to be one of the largest single-day outpatient events of its kind in the NHS.
Mr Mark Edwards, divisional medical director for cancer and specialist services and consultant vascular surgeon, said: "This was a fantastic example of teams coming together to improve access to specialist care for our patients. By seeing 260 patients in a single day, we were able to provide expert assessment and advice for people who had often been waiting many months for an appointment.
"The event helped us make significant progress in reducing waiting times whilst also testing a new approach to delivering outpatient care at scale. It showed what can be achieved when clinical and support teams work together with a shared focus on providing timely, high-quality care.
Following the success of the initiative, further Super Saturday clinics are being explored to help more patients access specialist services sooner, according to UHSussex.
Alex Shaw, chief delivery officer at UHSussex, said: "Reducing waits for planned care is one of our top priorities as part of delivering Excellent Care Everywhere, and initiatives like this show the difference we can make when teams come together around a shared goal.
"By creating additional capacity, we've helped hundreds of people access specialist assessment sooner, improving their experience whilst supporting our wider efforts to reduce waiting times for patients. This event demonstrates the innovation, teamwork and commitment of our staff to delivering timely, high-quality care for the communities we serve."
Karin Smyth, health minister in the Department of Health and Social Care, said: “It was fantastic to learn about the brilliant and innovative work of teams at Worthing Hospital. Focused initiatives like this are helping us turn the tide on waiting lists, which have fallen by almost 300,000 since July 2024.
"We want to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS by supporting effective new ways of working that help patients get the care they need sooner.”