Patient Initiated Mutual Aid (PIDMAS)

In England NHS patients have the right to request to move to a different hospital to receive their care/treatment if they have been waiting longer than 18 weeks. As the NHS continues to recover from the covid pandemic we are initially contacting all patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks and inviting them to be considered to move hospital to receive earlier care/treatment.

If you are eligible, you will receive a SMS and/or letter with the option to opt in on Tuesday 31 October 2023

Many patients may be deemed clinically appropriate to move provider. However, not in all circumstances will we be able to identify alternative capacity to facilitate a move.

If you wish to be considered to move to another hospital for your care, please submit your details via the national PIDMAS website. If you need support to complete this please contact the NHS National Helpline on 0345 4506166.

If patients would like to be considered for treatment elsewhere they will need to click on the link and complete the required information.

This information will then be sent to the relevant department for clinical review to see if it is appropriate for the patient to move hospital.

Please be aware that by making a request to move your care to another hospital, your entire pathway of care will be moved. This includes all appointments, any required treatment/surgery and any follow up care.

If you request to move, every effort will be made to identify an alternative hospital, however there may be circumstances in which it is not clinically appropriate to move to a different hospital or alternative capacity is not available.

We would like to assure you that:

• Our communication will only ever ask questions relating to your care
• We will never ask for bank details or make reference to money
• You may need to provide personal details if you are creating a new NHS login or are contacting the national helpline to submit your request where you will be asked particular information relating to your request

Please read through the questions and answers below for more information

Eligibility Criteria for Cohort 1

Patients who met all of the below have been invited to register their request to move to another provider:

1. Patients referred to routine elective, consultant-led services.
2. Patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks (with a referral-to-treatment [RTT] clock start date before 22nd January 2023).
3. Patients on an admitted pathway who have received a decision to admit (DTA) but lack a To Come In (TCI) date within the next 8 weeks.
4. Patients on a non-admitted pathway who have not yet had their first outpatient appointment and do not have an appointment date within the next 8 weeks.
5. Patients who are not tertiary referrals.
6. Patients who are not under the age of 18.

Only patients within this Cohort will be directly contacted and are eligible to choose to move provide.  Further Cohorts will follow in December and the Criteria will be shared on the website shortly.

The text message and letter states:

Patients waiting over 40 weeks may wish to consider moving hospital to receive earlier treatment. If you wish to be considered to move hospital please submit your details via www.pidmas.nhs.uk Support to complete this is available on 0345 4506166.

If a patient requests to move provider, the hospital Administration and Clinical team will review each request and the details relating to the patient, to confirm the patients eligibility and suitability to move provider.

The Administrative and Clinical review, may conclude it is not appropriate for some patients to move.  All patients will be contacted and notified of this decision and the reason why they are not be suitable to move provider.

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FAQs

‍How long will the process take?

In the majority of cases, the patient should be told if a new provider has been found or not within eight weeks of starting the process.

If a patient is not clinically appropriate to move they should be told within three weeks. If an alternative provider is not identified, the patient will be informed and will remain on the waiting list with their original provider.

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What happens to a patient’s position in the original waiting list if they decide to explore their options?

The patient’s position on their current waiting list will not be impacted if a new provider isn’t identified.

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Are eligible patients entitled to expenses for travel and accommodation?

There is the existing NHS Travel Reimbursement Scheme which can be utilised if patients opt to receive care and treatment by an alternative care provider.

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Are under 18s eligible for this offer?

Currently under 18s are not eligible for this.

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Can I contact the hospital to find out more?

It is important for patients to wait to be contacted and to not contact the hospital directly.