Staff-related costs for one follow-up consultation in the valve clinic, in each of the three models
| Staff involved | Gross cost | Cost/productive hour | Consultant | Senior sonographer | Sonographer and staff nurse | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 h | 0.75 h | 0.75 h | ||||||
| WTE needed | WTE needed | WTE needed | ||||||
| Band 6 sonographer | 44 570 | 26 | 1 | 19.38 | ||||
| Band 8a nurse | 60 780 | 35 | 1 | 26.43 | ||||
| Band 8b sonographer | 72 934 | 42 | 1 | 31.71 | ||||
| Consultant | 120 000 | 109 | 1 | 27.21 | ||||
| A&C 2 | 22 492 | 13 | 2 | 6.52 | 2 | 19.56 | 2 | 19.56 |
| HCSW 2 | 22 492 | 13 | 1 | 3.26 | ||||
| SpR | 57 751 | 37 | 1 | 9.17 | ||||
| Consultation cost | 46.16 | 51.27 | 65.36 | |||||
We allocated 15 min of consultant time and 45 min of non-consultant staff time per patient, expressed staff requirements as WTE and specified two healthcare assistants only for the consultant-led clinic, but clerical support for all. These time-indexed costs are used to calculate follow-up costs/100 patients with native or operated valve disease. The differences in the cost of valve clinic follow-up for patients with native versus operated valves arise from the different proportions assumed to need consultant review.
A&C, admin and clerical staff; HCSW, healthcare support worker; SpR, specialist registrar (cost does not include banding); WTE, working time equivalent.