Quality improvement project leads to 86% reduction in waiting times for service users

9 July 2025

A two year initiative to reduce waiting times and improve service user experiences has helped to make a real difference to the people we help.

Launched in July 2023, the waiting less and waiting well quality improvement collaborative brought together different teams from across Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. The overall aim of the collaborative was to reduce waiting times for service users by 10%, from referral to first contact, in the nine different teams taking part.

We’re celebrating the improvements those teams have achieved for service users. 

The first two teams featured are our Neurological Enablement Service and the Gender Identity Clinic. 

Neurological Enablement Service

The Neurological Enablement Service is a multidisciplinary community team working to help people with long term neurological (nervous system) conditions.

The team looks to give evidence based, effective person-centred care to people at a very difficult time in their lives.

Through their work with the other teams in the waiting less waiting well collaborative they have worked together to improve the responsiveness of the service and the experience service users have when using it. As well as looking at waiting times they examined flow through the service, the support offered to people as they wait and how they work with other teams.

Specific examples of the work they carried out included

  • Improving access to information and support for people people while waiting including the information on our website
  • Standardising our response to people who miss their appointments (people who did not attend) and people who cancelled their appointments late

And these small but important changes have made a significant differences.

How the project has helped to make a difference to service users

When this project started in July 2023, the average amount of time a service user had to wait from their initial referral until a first contact was 50 days.

After the changes the average wait time reduced to seven days - a reduction of 86%. This average has been maintained for over six months.

Gender Identity Clinic

Our Gender Identity Clinic provides specialist healthcare to transgender and non-binary people. 

The team at the clinic (pictured) focused their work on the experiences of service users so that their compassion and care for everyone could shine through.

They worked to specifically reduce 'did not attend' rates and increase the capacity for appointments.

Specific work included

  • Establishing the specific needs of service users earlier in their journey
  • Ensuring the clinic's website was more accessible and helpful to people while they were waiting
  • Developing an information brochure with peer support workers and wellbeing groups
  • Working with service users to develop ideas (coproduce) in partnership with them

How the project has helped to make a difference to service users

When the Gender Identity Clinic joined the waiting less waiting well collaborative in July 2023, the average 'did not attend' and cancelation rate of appointments was at approximately 23%

By March 2024 that had reduced to 9%. As of March 2025 the average figure was maintained at 9%

This has helped increase the capacity of our staff to see service users.