Impact

Revolutionising dermatology and saving lives

Reducing waiting lists with AllView Healthcare

AllView Healthcare is revolutionising dermatology in Ireland by dramatically decreasing patient waiting lists in hospitals and providing immediate and efficient access to potentially lifesaving interventions.

AllView Healthcare provides a fast track for initial consultations and follow-on surgical procedures, when required, which can reduce hospital waiting lists almost immediately. Hospitals that have contracts with AllView Healthcare have slashed their waiting lists significantly, benefitting both patients and hospitals.

Waiting lists for Dermatology increased from July to August by 854. The overall figure stands at 52,296 and has increased month on month for the last eight months.

The average increase over the last six months is 898, a run rate of nearly 11,000 annually.

  • More and more patients being added to the waiting list
  • Once AllView Healthcare contracts end, waiting lists increase
  • Nearly 50% of all waiting list patients have been waiting more than six months with nearly 20% waiting more than 18 months
  • The Dermatology waiting list is now the second longest of all specialties

How does AllView Healthcare cut waiting lists so quickly?

Waiting for a consultation and/or scan is often the slowest part of the patient journey and can clog waiting rooms. At AllView Healthcare, we have the resources to provide patients with rapid access to a consultant diagnosis. Once a referral is received, an appointment is offered in less than ten days on average.

As shown below, about half of the nearly 10,000 referrals received by AllView Healthcare in 2022 were discharged after the initial teledermatology appointment. These patients did not need to see a consultant or visit a hospital for treatment. In most of these cases, the complaint was benign, or a prescription was issued to treat the skin complaint.

Pathways Following Scan

After diagnosis, if further treatment is required, AllView Healthcare has clinics that can provide face-to-face consultations or surgical procedures. We have consultants, nurses, surgeons, and histopathologists on staff to diagnose and treat patients — we don’t outsource to other dermatology clinics.

AllView Healthcare has saved lives and will continue to save lives. In 2022, we detected almost 100 melanomas and over 700 other skin cancers in patients who might have otherwise languished on hospital waiting lists until their cancer was much harder to treat or was terminal.

AllView Healthcare can only reduce hospital waiting lists and save lives with the cooperation of hospitals.

Alarmingly, Ireland has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world and skin cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer in Ireland.* One in ten patients seen by AllView Healthcare are diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. Most of these cases are easily treatable if they are detected early.

AllView Healthcare has the capacity to remove thousands of patients from the waiting list. The service is available to all public hospitals and, thanks to the support of the NTPF, funding is also available. Multiple hospitals have already availed of the service and continue to do so. We believe no one should suffer from easily treatable dermatological conditions when such a service is available.

All statistics are based on National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTFP) data. National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF)

*World Cancer Research Fund International: Cancer Prevention Organisation | World Cancer Research Fund International – WCRF International