Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has today (6) unveiled a new pledge to cut the list of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in England by nearly half a million by 2026.
The plan will give patients greater access to Community Diagnostic Centres and surgical hubs.
A network of Community Diagnostic Centres, which provide appointments such as scans and endoscopies in local neighbourhoods, will extend their opening hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
More surgical hubs will be created to focus on common, less complex procedures, such as cataract surgeries. These hubs are ring-fenced from other parts of the hospital to ensure operating theatre time is not lost if there are emergency cases.
GPs will also be able, where appropriate, to refer patients directly to these centres without requiring a prior consultation with a senior doctor.
There will also be reforms designed to enhance patient choice and tackle inefficiencies.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the new reforms would create millions more appointments and “deliver on our promise to end the backlogs”.
He said: “There will be greater choice and convenience for patients. NHS staff will once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.”
The British Medical Association (BMA) welcomed the plan but said it was ‘sceptical’ about whether it could be delivered.
The latest NHS reforms are part of a broader effort to reduce the number of people facing long waits for appointments, procedures and surgeries.
One the government’s six main priorities is for 92% of patients to begin treatment or be given the all-clear within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament.
This has been an official NHS target for some time, but has not been met since 2015. – with only 59% of patients currently meet the 18-week target and three million people waiting longer.
The aim is to get patients treated more quickly, closer to home and without relying on hospitals. Officials say these centres will provide up to half a million extra appointments each year.
The new plan says that one million unnecessary appointments per year will be freed up for patients who need them. This will be made possible by abolishing automatic review appointments after treatment and only offering them to patients who request them.
Plans for patients to use the NHS App to monitor and book consultations and test results, with greater control over where they are treated, have already been announced. The goal is to make the system more efficient and reduce the number of missed appointments.
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “The radical reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments, and operations, but do things differently too – boosting convenience and putting more power in the hands of patients, especially through the NHS app.”
Professor Phil Banfield, chair of the BMA Council, has today expressed doubt over whether the latest NHS plan could be delivered.
“Doctors have been just as frustrated as their patients by the lack of facilities to deliver care and want to bring waiting lists down,” he said.
“But the reality is that without the workforce to meet constantly rising demand, we will not see the progress we all hope for.”
