RTL044P London Dental Electronic Referral Service (DERS)

London Dental Electronic Referral Service (DERS)

NHS England (London) wishes to engage with the dental electronic referral service (DERS) market to establish what level of interest there would be, what technology is available and to share what information has already been drafted. The project aim is to remove inequalities in service provision of specialist and intermediary dental services for patients across London. The service will achieve an improved referral mechanism for patients, referrers and providers. A clinically triaged DERS will help facilitate a patient to see the right clinician, at the right time, in the correct setting.

A DERS for London will need to:
• Ensure that treatment takes place in the most clinically appropriate and financially effective setting;
• Provide a mechanism for clinically led triage;
• Ensure a fair and equitable service across London, that promotes patient choice and reduces waiting times;
• Supports a consistent approach of referral management across London;
• Proactively resolve waiting list pressures by redirecting patient flow via an up to date directory of services;
• Provide the ability for clinicians, commissioners and patients to track referrals through a unique referral number;
• Facilitate high quality referrals, and so achieve, better clinical effectiveness and efficiency through improved standards of information accompanying referrals;
• Ensure robust and consistent data collection providing vastly improved information at service and provider level - giving information on local service needs and assisting in control relating to clinical effectiveness and spend;
• Ensure commissioners are fully briefed and able to respond to referral patterns;
• Protect the flow of patients into undergraduate and postgraduate training programmes.

We will be engaging with the market and sharing information that we have currently drafted via various groups and stakeholder networks in the pursuit of establishing what the market has to offer, which in turn will help NHS England select the most appropriate procurement process.
The stages in this process are:
1. Express an interest
2. Market engagement
3. Procurement process - either open or restricted depending on level of interest.
It is envisaged that the procurement stage will begin around May/June 2016..


Keywords:
Dental NHS England
NHS E
Dental referral management system
eRMS
Dental Ref Management