From Wednesday 4th November we will stop the routine validation and clinical prioritisation of incomplete orders for follow up appointments. The process currently requires significant administrative and clinical input, which delivers limited benefits.

As a result, from Wednesday 4th November it will be essential to follow the process below, depending on your role.

For clinicians

• If your patient needs a follow-up appointment, an appropriate follow-up order must be placed in PowerChart at the point the decision is made.
• The clinical prioritisation process within MPage (CHFT Overdue Appointments) will be decommissioned and clinicians will no longer receive incomplete orders for clinical review.
• If no order is placed, there will no longer be a routine validation process in place to identify and correct this omission.

For booking and administrative teams

• Follow-up appointments should only be booked using a valid order.
• Booking an appointment without an order creates a significant risk because if the appointment is later cancelled or amended, the patient cannot be returned to the correct waiting list pathway and may be at risk of being lost to follow-up.

The safest and most effective process remains: Clinical decision → Follow-up order requested → Appointment booked using that order

These changes support the Trust's wider work to strengthen booking governance, develop Specialty Booking Hubs and improve ownership of patient pathways. The focus is on preventing process failures at source rather than identifying them retrospectively.

Any questions?

If you have any questions regarding this change or the processes outlined above, please speak to your line manager or contact Craig Lockwood (Planned Access and Validation Service Manager) or Kimberley Scholes (Head of Planned Access).  

Thank you for your support in helping maintain safe and effective outpatient pathway management.