Reducing wheelchair referral-to-handover time

Reducing referral-to-equipment handover time by 77% through proactive wheelchair service coordination

Summary

The occupational therapy team at South Warwickshire's Wheelchair Service lacked the clinical capacity to screen referrals in time: the average wait for screening was 5 weeks (up to 13), 163 referrals were waiting — some for up to four months — and the NHS England target of 18 weeks from referral to equipment handover was not being met. In 2023, the Trust partnered with Tucuvi to implement LOLA. When a referral arrives, LOLA calls the patient and collects the essential health and service information through a natural conversation, mirroring the team's manual screening, and helps classify referrals by urgency P1, P2 or P3 so clinicians can focus on priority cases.

Impact

77%

reduction in referral-to-treatment time

100%

Elimination of the screening backlog

Faster access

-50%

Reduction in clinical time allocated to screening

HSJ Digital Award 2025 for Supporting Elective Recovery

South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded the HSJ Digital Award for Supporting Elective Recovery for the implementation of LOLA, Tucuvi's Clinical Voice AI. The recognition highlights the remarkable results achieved by the Wheelchair Service — significantly reducing waiting times, clearing the referral backlog, and optimising clinical resources.

Tucuvi has helped us tackle our growing waiting list. By identifying which patients need attention quickly through calls, we can remove people from the waiting list faster.

Bridgit Vorster-Gibbons - Senior Occupational therapist

South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust

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