Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is the 'New Ways' project?
In the publication Fair to All Personal to Each (December 2004) , the Scottish Executive Health Department announced proposals to change, by the end of 2007, the way patients waits are managed, measured and monitored. The aim of these changes was to make the management of waiting clear and transparent, with clear information available to patients and a consistent approach taken across Scotland. In summary:-

• The old system of Availability Status Codes (ASCs), which effectively removed in certain circumstances a patients right to assessment or treatment within national waiting times guarantees, has been replaced
• Nationally-consistent arrangements that take periods of patient unavailability into account when measuring and reporting waiting times in the context of the guarantees and which deal fairly and appropriately with patients who do not attend appointments or who refuse a reasonable offer of an appointment have now been introduced
• The shared responsibility of patients, GPs and hospital services to communicate changes in circumstances to facilitate efficient management of waiting and scheduling of care and to keep patients informed of their waiting status and the reasons has now been made explicit.

Is New Ways mandatory for services such as Mental Health, Allied Health Professionals, Nurse-led clinics etc.?
New Ways can accommodate all types of service including these models of service delivery. Although New Ways is not mandatory for these types of service at present, it would be recommended as good practice to implement the New Ways  guidance for appropriate patient services. Mental Health, Obstetrics, Homeopathy & Assisted Conception Services are not going to be part of 18wRTT but treatment by AHPs and Specialist Nurses can stop the patient?s clock so data will need to be collected. Information on Nurse led and AHP Services can enter the Data Warehouse so long as the Nurse / AHP codes are in a valid format. If the codes are not known, then the dummy code which is valid for a nurse is 99X9999X and for an AHP is XX999999.

How are queries about New Ways guidance handled?
Queries should be raised through the New Ways mailbox NSS.isdnewways@nhs.net. If an immediate answer cannot be given by a member of the New Ways  team, the issue is logged with the New Ways Data Definition Manager for further investigation.

There are links from the New Ways team to the 18 weeks referral to treatment standard programme .