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NMH Annual Report 2020

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122 Gynaecology and Colposcopy 2020 | NMH Annual Rep t A wide range of services are offered at the Gynaecology Outpatient Department which include specialist services in Colposcopy, Oncology, Urogynaecology, Rapid Access Menorrhagia, DES, Reproductive Medicine, Menopause, Endometriosis, Trophoblast, Perineal, Endocrine, Adolescent Services, Ambulatory Gynaecology, Recurrent Miscarriage and Stillbirth Counselling services as well as general gynaecology care. We also work with the Transgender services at Loughlinstown hospital and accept referrals for surgery. In 2020 we also developed an additional clinic for Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). This clinic was established by Dr Cathy Allen and is also attended by Dr Deirdre Lundy, GP Specialist in Women's Health. It focuses on women with POI as well as those women with medical disorders requiring special consideration for menopause management. A nurse-led pessary clinic has also been established to help reduce the waiting times for the Urogynaecology clinic. COVID-19 had a significant impact on the gynaecology outpatient services. In the second quarter of the year routine services were suspended for three months however, we continued to see urgent appointments and we introduced phone appointments for patients that we could not see in person. With all the changes enforced on the clinic's services due to COVID-19 restrictions, we reviewed our appointments process to see how we can make the clinics more efficient by reducing the amount of patients who do not attend for their appointment. Patients are now only informed of their appointment Colposcopy and Gynaecology Outpatient Clinics New Attended Follow Up Attended Did Not Attend New Telemed/ Telephone Attended New Telemed/ Telephone DNA DNA Rate Gynaecology 4122 3885 1543 775 20 15.1% Colposcopy 1383 4257 569 0 0 9.2% Colposcopy and Gynaecology Clinic Activity date six weeks prior to their appointment and asked to confirm that they will attend. A text message reminder is then sent seven and five days before the appointment. Clinics are also reviewed in advance to ensure they are running at maximum capacity. In June, normal services resumed. We continued with telephone appointments where possible and reduced the clinic sessions from two to three to accommodate social distancing in our small waiting area. The clinic now runs from 0800 – 1830hrs incorporating three consultant clinics per day. It has been a very busy and challenging year, but despite this, we managed to complete the upgrade refurbishment works to the clinic and continued to deliver a high standard of patient centred care. Even with all the disruptions to the clinic, patient feedback has been positive as evidenced by two patient satisfaction surveys carried out within the clinic. With a view to rebuilding the Gynaecological services after such major disruption, The Gynae Services Group was formed. From July, meetings have been held every 3-4 weeks. The Gynaecology Clinic team are delighted to be part of this group. The team also presented our audit of the fertility services during 2019 at the NMH Innovation Awards. Our presentation demonstrated the improved waiting times and increased efficiency in the fertility service provided at the National Maternity Hospital. I'm delighted to say we won the innovation third prize oral presentation at the inaugural research and innovation symposium. The audit showed a reduced DNA (Did Not Attend) rate by 30%, and patients only waited less than 2 months for a fertility appointment which is a reduction from 6 months previously.

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