Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Services
Background
The Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Services (YCIS) was established at the Bradford Royal Infirmary in 1990 and offers a service for adults and children undergoing or considering a cochlear implant.
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The programme has carried out well over 370 implants since it was set up, with numbers of patients increasing each year: 41 implant operations were completed in 2004-05 and it is anticipated that 50 operations will be completed 2006-07, approximately two thirds for children, one third adults.
The cochlear implant team at Bradford works closely with the patient and their family through the whole process of initial assessment, fitting the implant and rehabilitation.
YCIS has a really positive relationship with its PCTs as Dave Strachan, Consultant ENT Surgeon and Jane Martin, Service Co-ordinator explain:
We work with 13 PCTs over the whole of Yorkshire and over the border into Bury, Rochdale and Morecambe Bay offering a strong outreach programme for children and their carers.
Having a good relationship and two-way communication with our PCTs is really important. We are fortunate to have an excellent Planning and Performance Department within the hospital which acts as a sort of ‘middle man’ liaising between us and the various PCTs. The cochlear implant team has bi-monthly meetings with the Planning and Performance Department, informing them of patient progress, then they pass this information on to the PCT.
Many PCTs never find out what happens to the patients they provide funding for but we think this is an important part of relationship building between us and them. It also puts a human face to the funding for the PCT, informing them of the successful outcomes, and hopefully encourages them to take a positive outlook on future funding.
We also ensure that our PCTs are very clear about the criteria for cochlear implants, as well as the outcomes and will personally attend meetings with them when requested. We believe that this sort of communication allows PCTs to plan for funding in advance. Communcation is undoubtedly one of the main reasons we have such a good relationship with our PCTs and why we are relatively well funded for the procedure.
To assist with this communication we also organise Information Giving Events for Referrers and Commissioners to provide updates on cochlear implantation.
We have contracts with some PCTs, with others we have to apply individually for funding. Either way we still maintain the same open-communication strategy. This way we have found that some PCTs are willing to provide extra funding when it has been needed, for example bi-lateral implants for meningitic cases. On the other hand, if we realise we are going to carry out less implants than predicted, we would also let the relevant PCT know as soon as possible.
This work does take time but it does help us to have a positive relationship with the PCTs and in so doing improve waiting times for our patients.
For more information visit YCIS.
