South Yorkshire NHS Trust

May–August 2026

Creating more capacity for new patients

How a South Yorkshire NHS trust created 133 additional new-patient slots each week by reducing unnecessary follow-ups and improving outpatient planning.

The Challenge

Unused clinic capacity and unnecessary follow-ups were limiting access for new patients.

The trust needed to make better use of existing clinics while improving booking and referral management. Attended utilisation stood at 75.2%, with cancellations and missed appointments creating further capacity losses. Teams needed consistent planning processes and clearer information to reduce unnecessary demand and sustain improvement locally.

Results at a glance

133 additional

new-patient slots per week

10.9% reduction

in planned follow-up slots

7.4% increase

in attended utilisation

21.9% reduction

in missed appointments

Results cover May–August 2026. Percentage changes are rounded.

What we changed

Productive Partners worked with clinical and operational teams to reduce unnecessary demand and improve outpatient planning.

Reduce follow-up demand

Worked with 16 specialties to review follow-up care and redesign clinic templates, including patient-initiated follow-up and Patient Not Present activity.

Improve referral pathways

Activated Advice & Guidance across eight services, strengthened referral guidance and developed a waiting-list validation process for local implementation.

Strengthen clinic planning

Introduced partial booking across seven specialties and embedded weekly 6-4-2 planning, escalation routes and executive oversight.

Build local capability

Developed productivity analytics and supported dashboard development, giving teams clearer information and further digital improvement opportunities to take forward.

The outcome

More capacity for new patients, with stronger planning and local ownership.

Clinic template changes removed 117 planned follow-up slots each week and created 133 additional new-patient slots.

During the programme, attended utilisation rose from 75.2% to 80.73%. Missed appointment rates fell from 6.4% to 5.0%, while hospital cancellations reduced from 24.9% to 23.0%.

The additional capacity represented an indicative £926,000 in tariff value to year-end, rather than confirmed income or savings.

The programme left the trust with clearer planning routines, stronger clinical ownership and better information to support continued improvement.

Ongoing trust monitoring is needed to confirm sustained benefits and the programme’s contribution.

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