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Core characteristics

  • Last modified date:
    20 August 2007
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The goal of a treatment centre is to deliver high quality, cost effective scheduled diagnostic and/or treatment services that optimise service efficiency and clinical outcomes and maximise patient satisfaction.

The defining characteristics of a treatment centre are that:

  1. it embodies throughout its life the very best and most forward thinking practice in the design and delivery of the services it provides
  2. it delivers a high volume of activity in a pre-defined range of routine treatments and/or diagnostics
  3. it delivers scheduled care that is not affected by demand for, or provision of, unscheduled care either on the same site or elsewhere
  4. its services are streamlined and modern, using defined patient pathways
  5. its services are planned and booked, with an emphasis on patient choice and convenience together with organisational ability to deliver
  6. it has a clear and trusted identity that is valued by its patients and by its other stakeholders
  7. it provides a high quality, positive patient experience
  8. it creates a positive environment that enhances the working lives of the people who work in it
  9. it adds significantly to the capacity of the NHS to treat its patients successfully

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