Shake-up at Oswestry Hospital Spinal Services
Hundreds of patients from England and Wales suffering from back pain have been waiting up to a year at the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH), only to be discharged without receiving specialist treatment.
Referral System Under Review
The hospital's leadership is addressing the issue by overhauling the referral process for spinal problems. An NHS national team from the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme visited RJAH in January and proposed a new “single point of access” system. This system is currently in trial before planned implementation next year.
The aim is to ensure patients receive “the right care at the right place at the right time.”
Rising Demand and Capacity Challenges
At a board meeting on November 5, it was acknowledged that increasing referrals are a nationwide problem. RJAH has experienced a rise from 4,500 referrals in 2018/19 to 6,802 in 2024/25, with 4,021 patients from England and 2,781 from Wales.
This surge is causing significant imbalances between capacity and demand.
Discharge Rates Raise Concerns
“What’s really interesting is a 32 per cent discharge rate. That would indicate we’ve got a problem with our pathways when almost a third of our patients actually don’t need to be here,” an official said.
Patients are currently waiting around 52 weeks to be seen in the outpatient department, highlighting delays and inefficiencies in service delivery.
Summary
RJAH is implementing a new referral system to address long waits and high discharge rates, aiming to improve patient care and reduce unnecessary hospital visits.