Controversial TRISH patient service may 'get the boot'

A heavily criticised new system used to fix medical appointments for Wakefield patients could be axed after just a year.
The TRISH has received negative feedback from local NHS patientsThe TRISH has received negative feedback from local NHS patients
The TRISH has received negative feedback from local NHS patients

The Referral Information and Support Hub (TRISH) was introduced as a pilot scheme by the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in 2018.

It was set up to organise appointments for patients who had been referred for further treatment by their GP, to replace the traditional system of doctors writing directly to a hospital or health provider.

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But the service has been attacked by professionals within the industry of late for being inefficient and riddled with problems.

And at a Wakefield health scrutiny meeting on Thursday it was criticised by 80 year-old patient Mavis Harrison, who told CCG bosses it had caused her "no end of problems".

She said she had been texted incorrect information and been told to attend appointments that had been cancelled months previously.

In response, the CCG admitted that they'd had similar complaints from other patients.

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Mrs Harrison said: "I'm absolutely fed up of ringing this TRISH and having to explain things to them.

"I don't know what was wrong with the old method of your GP writing to the hospital to sort these things out.

"That was far better off than the invention of this TRISH service.

"At the end of the day I'm the patient and I'm quite capable of making my own choices."

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Wakefield CCG's director of corporate affairs, Ruth Unwin, said: "In terms of the TRISH service, that was set up as a pilot project and we have had some patient feedback around that.

"That will likely shape where the service goes in future and we're looking at whether that's the right project to take forward.

"We have had similar feedback from other patients."

Asked by the committee's chair, Betty Rhodes, if this meant TRISH was "getting the boot", CCG representative Michelle Ezro said: "We are in the process of finalising that review and so I'm grateful to Mavis for the views she's given us on that.

"It was always going to be a one year pilot and then a review. Certainly we're not going to pursue something that isn't working."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

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