The Government has launched a new plan to help end long NHS waiting list backlogs. The NHS England Elective Reform Plan has set out to tackle the waiting list backlog of 7.5 million by increasing the number of available appointments, and making care easier to access for local communities.
‘NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear,’ said Prime Minister Keir Starmer. ‘This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.’
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The changes are expected to restore the NHS waiting standard of 18 weeks for at least 65% of people by the end of 2026. Up to half a million more appointments are to be created, with the extended opening of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in accessible locations. In conjunction, the NHS app is also planned to undergo updates to allow patients more control over their treatment such as booking diagnostic tests.
‘The NHS should work around patients’ lives, not the other way around,’ said Health and Social Care secretary Wes Streeting. ‘By opening community diagnostic centres on high streets 12 hours a day, seven days a week, patients will now be able to arrange their tests and scans for when they go to do their weekend shopping, rather than being forced to take time out of work.’
However, health leaders are concerned that these goals cannot be met with the currently understaffed workforce. Nurses are currently leaving the profession in increasing amounts, with fewer students joining nursing education and filling thousands of the remaining vacancies. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) expressed its concern that the goals of the reform cannot be met without substantial investment into the nursing profession.
‘Nursing is crucial to a better future for health and social care, but there are tens of thousands of vacancies across every part of the system and every region in England,’ said RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger. ‘Nursing delivers the majority of care and is central to the government’s mission. We desperately need new investment in our workforce otherwise all attempts to improve patient care and modernise the NHS will never get off the ground.’