All GPs and referrers are reminded to use ErS to make referrals. From Monday 25March any referrals not made via ErS will be sent back to the GP/referrer.
Following the re-procurement of GP Direct Access Community Diagnostic Services in June 2023 for Cardiology, Endoscopy, MRI and Ultrasound services across the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge (BHR boroughs), Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest (TNW boroughs), we are pleased to announce that we have successfully awarded contracts to three out of four services. To note: City and Hackney were out of scope for this procurement process as diagnostic services are provided by their local acute hospitals.
New contracts have been awarded for Cardiology, MRI and Ultrasound services across the six boroughs and we are currently finalising arrangements for Endoscopy in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge.
We are looking forward to continuing working with service providers Omnes Healthcare LTD and InHealth, who are our existing providers and welcome HealthShare. Please refer to the table below for a detailed breakdown of service providers across the different boroughs who will be delivering the new contracts.
| Diagnostic services | Provider In Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge | Provider In Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest |
| Cardiology | Omnes Healthcare LTD – includes 12 Lead GP ECG remote interpretation services | |
| Endoscopy | Finalising arrangements | (Provided by Barts NHS Trust) |
| MRI | HealthShare | InHealth |
| Ultrasound | HealthShare | Omnes |
Please note for cardiology, the 12 Lead GP ECG remote interpretation services for BHR boroughs and Newham will continue to be provided by Broomwell in Partnership with Omnes Healthcare. GPs in Newham can also refer to the Omnes 12 Lead ECG in-clinic if required. For the remaining two boroughs – Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, 12 lead ECGs will be provided by Omnes Heatlhcare Limited in their Cardiology clinics.
There will be no changes to the level of services offered to patients for diagnostic services irrespective of which provider has won the contract, as providers are offering like-for-like services, enabling patients to access services closer to home within the community. In Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest, there will be an additional Cardiology and Ultrasound capacity via Omnes Healthcare in response to the three boroughs increased demand for the services within the community.
Some services like Ultrasound and Cardiology are now directly bookable across sites and boroughs which means patients or their GPs can choose and book the earliest dates and appointment slots that are available and convenient for patients.
CONTEXT For Tower Hamlets GPs ONLY – As you may have heard, NEL are about to open an additional referral route for GP Direct Access Diagnostics across NEL from 1st April 2024 – which has some implications for Tower Hamlets. The changes for Tower Hamlets will impact upon GP Direct Access MRI, cardiac physiology and ultrasound:
For MRI tests, the provider remains InHealth as it has been to date, but the referral method is changing – we ask people to begin using eRS to request these scans, in line with the standard method of requesting other outpatient services. We recognise that this is a change to current practice but it will bring other longer term benefits by aligning this service with advances in technology which can unlock other benefits such as directly bookable clinic slots. InHealth will continue to see patients at the Stratford site, and offer patients the choice to go to other InHealth locations if they prefer. The same service has been recommissioned so you can continue to refer for the same tests as previously.
For cardiac physiology and ultrasound, we have commissioned a new service from Omnes across Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest (TNW) to include 24 hour tape, 12 lead ECG and interpretation and echocardiography. This service is in additon to existing referral routes into Barts Health NHS Trust, but will offer patients both additional choice of location for their scans and also for some modalities, a significantly shorter waiting time than is currently likely at the Royal London Hospital. We are still confirming the final locations of all of these services, but there are scheduled to be at least eight across TNW, with the three in Tower Hamlets proposed to be at St Andrews Health Centre, Bethnal Green Health Centre and Spitalfields Practice. Tower Hamlets patients will also be able to access the other Omnes clinic sites across the TNW Boroughs if it would be more convenient for them or offer shorter waiting times are available. Referral to these new services will also be via eRS.
These additional services are being offered to increase patient choice and to ensure we keep reducing our backlogs and waiting times, as well as to ensure that patients across NEL have consistent access to diagnostic services and are not unfairly disadvantaged by issues that may crop up from time to time in individual hospital sites. We would further like to reiterate that these are in addition to all existing routes and methods of provision for diagnostic tests and we have no plans to decommission or stop any of the existing services