Protocols for outpatient follow-up and remote monitoring in urology services have been collated into new GIRFT guidance, supporting trusts to reduce waiting lists and make the best use of clinicians’ and patients’ time.
The GIRFT urology guidance on follow-up pulls together existing advice from GIRFT’s urology series – including guidance on conditions and pathways and overarching advice for outpatient transformation – offering a clear and convenient resource for urology teams looking to make the best use of their outpatient appointments.
The protocols in the guide have been developed in conjunction with trusts as part of the GIRFT Further Faster programme, drawing on guidance developed with expert working groups, including for bladder outlet obstruction, stones, prostate cancer, kidney cancer and bladder cancer.
The guide also contains some key principles of follow-up, including:
- Discharge when appropriate: follow-up should only be used when a patient needs a further procedure or test. Where safe and proportionate for the patient, discharge should be the default.
- Risk stratified follow-up: avoiding excessive follow-up for low-risk patients while ensuring those patients who most need to be seen are not missed.
- Patient Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU): helping to reduce low value consultations, in line with GIRFT’s PIFU guide and templates.
- Remote monitoring: reducing the need for patients to be repeatedly brought back to hospital, eg; notifying normal test results automatically by text, the NHS app or letter.
