Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Notes on the authors
- Introduction
- one Transplanted roots: where the innovation came from
- two Fertile ground? The organisational milieux of the treatment centres
- three Taking up the challenge: local motives for the innovation
- four The impact of the wider policy context
- five Achieving the goals? How and why the treatment centres evolved
- six Improving practice? Evidence of innovative ways of working
- seven Summary and conclusions: making sense of what happened
- eight Implications for policy, practice and research
- Appendix 1 Early definitions of a treatment centre
- Appendix 2 The study design and methods
- References
Appendix 1 - Early definitions of a treatment centre
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Notes on the authors
- Introduction
- one Transplanted roots: where the innovation came from
- two Fertile ground? The organisational milieux of the treatment centres
- three Taking up the challenge: local motives for the innovation
- four The impact of the wider policy context
- five Achieving the goals? How and why the treatment centres evolved
- six Improving practice? Evidence of innovative ways of working
- seven Summary and conclusions: making sense of what happened
- eight Implications for policy, practice and research
- Appendix 1 Early definitions of a treatment centre
- Appendix 2 The study design and methods
- References
Summary
Treatment centres (TCs) were intended to deliver high volumes of high quality care using modern, efficient methods based on well-designed care-pathways. The key was separating elective from emergency care so that TCs could concentrate on delivering booked services according to planned protocols with the additional benefit of routinely offering patients choice and convenience. To achieve these aims, there was a guiding expectation that novel patient pathways would be planned that did not necessarily treat conventional departmental or professional boundaries as sacrosanct. The new model of care was expected to be innovative in focusing on the needs of patients rather than of the organisation and, where possible, providing a one-stop shop where the provision of diagnostic and treatment services improved both the efficiency of the service and the experience of the patient.
These defining characteristics of TCs were frequently reiterated in Department of Health and NHS material. Such sources also frequently repeated the point that there was no single model for a TC, whether run by the NHS or the private sector. Rather than a single model for all circumstances, TCs could be anywhere on a continuum from relatively simple primary care-based developments through traditional day case units to full blown elective ‘factories’ For example:
The term Diagnostic and Treatment Centres encompasses a wide range of healthcare activities and types of facility. (SDC Consulting, 2001)
Treatment Centres will vary in the types of services they offer depending on the local demand for health services. (Treatment Centres FAQ, originally at http://dh.gov. uk/PolicyAndGuidance/OrganisationPolicy, last accessed September 2006.)
For the NHS, DTCs [Diagnostic and Treatment Centres] offer an opportunity to adopt best practice and increase short term capacity through new ways of working. There is not one prescribed model for a DTC; for example it could be on NHS property or in a shopping centre. There are no set ideas on structure as long as the DTC is fit for purpose. Trusts may even want to consider leasing a facility and learning from how this works before building a tailormade DTC. (Ken Anderson of the Department of Health’s independent sector TC team, quoted in Architects for Health, 2003)
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Organisational Innovation in Health ServicesLessons from the NHS Treatment Centres, pp. 147 - 148Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011