Engagement
Clinic operations review
A time-bound study of one specialty clinic: session lists, waiting times, unused slots, room use, and the papers your board actually reads.
Who it is for
Practice managers, outpatient leads, and clinical directors in UK clinics and multi-site outpatient groups who already keep session lists, PAS extracts, and waiting-time reports but cannot see why clinics overrun or why rooms sit empty between lists.
What you receive
A written review with annotated charts, a short set of findings tied to named clinics and dates, and a recommended sequence of changes to templates, start times, or room allocation. You leave with papers you can take to a clinical governance meeting, not a login.
Scope
One specialty or one site for a first engagement. Typical subjects include general surgery outpatients, ophthalmology, MSK, dermatology, and community outpatient hubs. We work from your existing lists and a small number of observed sessions.
Included
- Kick-off with the practice or operations lead to agree the specialty, date range, and questions the board has already asked
- Review of session templates, clinic letters, DNA coding, and room diaries for the agreed period
- Two observed clinic sessions (morning and afternoon where the rota allows)
- Charts of waiting time in clinic, list start delay, unused slots, and DNA by day of week
- A 12–16 page written review plus a two-page briefing note for the board or partners
- A ninety-minute walkthrough with the people who run the lists
Not included
- Building or licensing software for your trust or group
- Access to patient-identifiable records beyond what you already share under a data processing note
- Job planning for consultants as a standalone piece of work
- Implementation of a new PAS or booking system
Who does the work
Helen Cartwright, operations analyst, with a second reader from the Portalanchorcore team on every written review.
How the weeks run
- You send a short brief: specialty, number of lists per week, and the question you need answered.
- We agree a data processing note and a list of extracts (session lists, DNA codes, room bookings).
- We spend two days on site observing clinics and speaking with reception, nurses, and the list lead.
- We draft charts and findings, send them for factual check, then issue the review.
- We present to the people who own the rota, not only to the board.
Duration
Four to six weeks from receipt of extracts to the walkthrough. Observed sessions are booked in week two or three.
Where we work
On site at the clinic or outpatient hub in England, with remote work from Dodford for charting and writing. Travel within mainland UK is included in the starting fee for a single-site review.
What you prepare
Name a single contact who can grant access to waiting areas and staff rooms. Export session lists for twelve weeks. Flag any lists that are teaching clinics or one-stop services so they are not mixed with routine follow-up.
Limits we will not cross
We do not enter consulting rooms during examinations. We do not interview patients. Charts use aggregated counts. If your PAS cannot export slot-level times, the review will say so and will lean more heavily on observation.
Fee
From £4,800 excluding VAT for a single specialty at one site. Additional specialties or sites are quoted after the kick-off.
Next step
Write to us with the specialty and the question your board has already asked. We reply within two working days with a proposed date range.
Questions we hear before a first review
Do you need access to identifiable patient records?
No. We work from session lists and counts that you already use for operations. Names on a printed list in a waiting area are seen in passing during observation and are not copied into the review.
Can you review more than one specialty at once?
A first engagement stays with one specialty so the definitions stay clean. A second specialty can follow, quoted after the walkthrough, using the same coding note.
What if our PAS extract is messy?
Most are. We will say which findings rest on observation because the extract cannot support them. We will not invent a tidy chart from a broken column.