If you’re still waiting for your first NHS hospital appointment, you’re not alone. Many patients are caught in silence, referred by their GP but hearing nothing for weeks or even months.
The common belief is that the problem lies with long waits for treatment. But for millions, the real delay happens before that: just getting to the first appointment. This is what we call the “frontlog” and it’s a major issue hiding in plain sight.
So, what’s “validation” got to do with it?
Validation might sound technical, even boring. But in reality, it’s about something deeply human: making sure you’re not forgotten.
Every time the system wrongly records that you’ve been seen, discharged, or no longer need care, you can be pushed further down the list. Every time a data field is left blank, or a referral is misfiled, you might end up waiting longer than necessary, or miss out altogether.
That’s what MBI works on. We support NHS teams to find and fix the gaps in waiting list data. Because when the records are wrong, people suffer. And when we put them right, people get seen.
Automated validation? Double technical. Well yes, but..
It means that instead of asking staff to manually check thousands of records, we use technology to scan and read through clinical notes, letters, and reports to spot the signs that someone has already been treated, discharged, or missed.
This isn’t replacing people – it’s helping them!
Automated validation works in the background, quietly flagging errors, highlighting risks, and making sure patients aren’t stuck in the system because of a missed update. It saves staff time, reduces errors, and most importantly, gets people the care they need sooner.
In human terms, it means someone finally gets that MRI they’ve been waiting for. It means an anxious parent isn’t chasing a lost referral. It means a consultant sees the right patient at the right time.
Why this matters more than ever
In today’s NHS, staff are stretched. Systems are changing fast. Manual data entry errors are unavoidable and growing. We understand that. Many of the people we work with are NHS staff and patients themselves. They care as deeply as anyone about getting this right.
Validation isn’t about blame. It’s about partnership. It’s about catching problems early so patients don’t fall through the cracks. It’s about giving clinicians the visibility to prioritise care safely. And it’s about giving patients the confidence that someone, somewhere, is paying attention.
Behind every number, there’s a person
We might work in data, but we see the human impact every day. A missing letter isn’t just a glitch, it’s a missed diagnosis. A wrongly marked discharge isn’t a line on a report, it’s a delayed treatment for someone who’s still waiting.
So yes, validation might sound dull.
But when it works, it changes lives.
And that’s why we do it.
