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 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 have slashed their waiting lists significantly, benefitting both patients and hospitals.

Over a period of less than 12 months, AllView reduced the waiting list with St. James’s Hospital by over 50%.

Dermatology waiting list numbers by hospital – monthly progression

Showing hospitals with >2,000 patients waiting in December 2021

Other hospitals working with AllView Healthcare have also significantly reduced their waiting lists. The DermView Limited t/a AllView Healthcare contract with the RSCI Group (Beaumont, Drogheda, Connolly, Cavan) has seen a reduction in waiting lists of over 30% in 12 months.

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. AllView has the resources to provide patients with rapid access to a consultant diagnosis.

As shown below, about half of the nearly 10,000 referrals received by AllView 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 complaint.

Pathways Following Scan

After diagnosis, if a patient requires further treatment, we have clinics across the country, and we work in collaboration with hospitals on site. We have consultants, nurses, surgeons, and histopathologists on staff to diagnose and treat patients — we don’t need to outsource to other dermatology clinics.
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AllView Healthcare has saved lives and will continue to save lives. In 2022, AllView 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.
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AllView Healthcare can only reduce hospital waiting lists and save lives with the cooperation of hospitals. In the case of St James’ Hospital, National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTFP) data shows that since the contract with AllView ceased, waiting lists have increased.
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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 eight patients seen by AllView are diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. Most of these cases are easily treatable if they are detected early.
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Can we, as a nation, afford to allow dermatology waiting lists to increase when the risk to patients’ lives is so high? Why should a patient have to wait for a diagnosis in their local hospital when the HSE have put in place a service to have them seen and treated within weeks? Who will be held responsible for the delayed cancer diagnoses of patients in hospitals that don’t use such services provided for them? The answers are clear and AllView Healthcare provides a solution.