Why is this HEAT target important?
Managing referrals electronically reduces risk and speeds up the process. This target supports patient equity and focus, and also efficiency by improving the timeliness and effectiveness of the referral management process.
How are we performing?
Target due for delivery from December 2010
The target is to achieve 90 per cent of new GP outpatient referrals into consultant led secondary care services managed electronically from December 2010. To meet the target, 90 per cent of new referrals from GPs to consultant led secondary care must have their status changed on Scottish Care Information (SCI) Gateway or alternative mechanism. The percentage of referrals managed electronically has increased from 8.7 per cent in April 2009 to 81.4 per cent in January 2011.
The graph below shows the percentage of referrals managed electronically since April 2009.
NHS Board level performance is shown in the table below. All NHS Boards have a local target of 90 per cent from December 2010.
Percentage of referrals managed electronically, by NHS Board, January 2011
| NHS Board | January 2011 |
|---|
| NHS AYRSHIRE & ARRAN | 94.8 |
| NHS BORDERS | 60.7 |
| NHS DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY | 89.5 |
| NHS FIFE | 80.4 |
| NHS FORTH VALLEY | 80.2 |
| NHS GRAMPIAN | 73.0 |
| NHS GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE | 64.5 |
| NHS HIGHLAND | 92.5 |
| NHS LANARKSHIRE | 95.7 |
| NHS LOTHIAN | 94.0 |
| NHS ORKNEY | 98.4 |
| NHS SHETLAND | 97.5 |
| NHS TAYSIDE | 91.1 |
| NHS WESTERN ISLES | 99.2 |
| NHSSCOTLAND | 81.4 |
The target also requires that 95 per cent of new referrals from GPs to consultant led secondary care must be submitted through the Scottish Care Information (SCI) Gateway electronic referral system. The percentage of referrals received through SCI Gateway has increased by over 15 percentage points, from 82.7 per cent in April 2009 to 98.8 per cent in January 2011.
The graph below shows the percentage of referrals received through the SCI Gateway since April 2008.
NHS Board level performance is shown in the table below. All NHS Boards have a local target of 95 per cent by December 2010.
Percentage of referrals received through SCI Gateway, by NHS Board, January 2011
| NHS Board | January 2011 |
|---|
| NHS AYRSHIRE & ARRAN | 100.0 |
| NHS BORDERS | 96.9 |
| NHS DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY | 98.9 |
| NHS FIFE | 98.1 |
| NHS FORTH VALLEY | 99.3 |
| NHS GRAMPIAN | 100.0 |
| NHS GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE | 96.3 |
| NHS HIGHLAND | 100.0 |
| NHS LANARKSHIRE | 97.8 |
| NHS LOTHIAN | 98.5 |
| NHS ORKNEY | 100.0 |
| NHS SHETLAND | 97.5 |
| NHS TAYSIDE | 91.1 |
| NHS WESTERN ISLES | 100.0 |
| NHSSCOTLAND | 98.8 |
Further Information
eHealth programme
eHealth HEAT statistics
Related National Outcomes