Innovative solution to the delivery of healthcare could reduce waiting lists

I am a founding partner in First Contact Health, a local business which specialises in caring for those with pain or restricted function due to a problem with their muscles or joints.

Healthcare in the UK and in the Bailiwick is currently struggling due to long waiting lists. Many GPs are not trained in specialist musculoskeletal (MSK) issues. If you have an arthritic joint most GPs are likely to prescribe anti-inflammatories and painkillers or refer you to the orthopaedic department for a potential operation.

But there is an alternative course of action. There are huge pressures on the island’s waiting lists for elective orthopaedic surgery and these lists are growing for a variety of reasons but mainly because, I suspect, the number of operations performed per week is less than the number of operations listed each week.

The number of operations listed for surgery needs to reduce and other non-surgical methods looked at in order to have manageable waiting lists.

A simple search on Google reveals that almost 30% of joint operations can be avoided by better conservative management. A primary care provider who specialises in just muscle and joint issues can optimise the care of arthritic conditions. This means avoiding referral to secondary care and therefore bringing down the waiting list by reducing the numbers that are being listed for surgery.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for example, are used for a variety of conditions including arthritis. The treatment uses growth factors in patient’s own blood cells to accelerate healing in a specific area.

Doctors have learned that the body can heal itself and PRP therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that can harness those abilities and amplify the natural healing of tissue.

It can reduce the need for anti-inflammatories or stronger medications like opioids and the side-effects are limited because the injections are created from your own blood, so your body will not reject or react negatively to them.

There is emerging evidence that PRP treatment can even reverse the arthritis if used early on in treatment. Therefore, screening for arthritis may mean that patients may never need a joint replacement.

The burden of joint problems that need treating by the health service is likely not to reduce in the foreseeable future. With an ageing demographic and an increase in the incidence of arthritic conditions we need a different way of treating people so that they are not having to wait for years in pain on a waiting list.

Like the businesses I have been involved with in the past, an innovative solution to the delivery of healthcare can improve the quality, speed of access and cost to healthcare.

This means that the system operates more efficiently and local patients that genuinely require surgery will not face long waiting lists, be relieved of their pain and suffering more quickly and can return to their everyday lives.

Peter Watson