A leading North East NHS figure said the new plan to slash waiting lists is necessary as despite recent progress, many NHS patients haven’t “felt a benefit”.
Writing in his capacity as National Elective Recovery director, Sir James Mackey and Dame Emily Lawson – chief operating officer at NHS England – wrote to NHS executives around the country explaining how despite progress on waiting lists, for many people waiting for care, their experience had yet to improve. Sir James holds the national role as well as being chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the Freeman and Royal Victoria Infirmary.
The letter accompanies the wide-ranging announcement this week of the Labour Government’s plan to speed up NHS care through measures including a deal with private-sector hospitals and a focus on using the NHS App to help patients manage their own care.
Each NHS trust in the country has been asked to ensure the number of patients seen within 18 weeks improves by at least five per cent by March 2026. Changes will also see “17 new or expanded surgical hubs” while community diagnostic centres will be supported to open 12 hours a day, seven days a week
In the letter from Sir Jim and Dame Emily, they thank NHS staff for working “tirelessly” and highlight how the longest waiting times – those who had waited more than two years or more than 18 months – had been dramatically reduced in the past three years. However, they warned many patients were still waiting too long.
They wrote: “Over the almost 3 years since we published the Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care, you and your teams have worked tirelessly – in the face of significant challenges – to reduce long waits for planned treatment.
“Thanks to your combined efforts, the NHS is now delivering more elective care than ever before, and long waits are coming down; two-year waits have been all but eradicated, and 18-month waits have been reduced by 96%. Despite this progress, we all recognise that many patients are yet to feel a benefit, and too many are still waiting too long for care.”
Despite this, the proportion of people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment has risen. On Monday the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary laid out their plans for a “shared approach” that it is hoped will see 92% of people waiting for care get it within 18 weeks by 2029 – that’s the target laid out in the NHS constitution.
The letter highlights how NHS England will work with individual NHS trusts and integrated care boards to support changes to processes. Sir Jim and Dame Emily added: “We do not underestimate the scale of the challenge to return to constitutional standards for elective care, nor what it has taken over the last three years to recover long waits.
“Thank you again for those huge efforts made to date, which have meant that hundreds of thousands of people have received care more quickly than they otherwise would. We know you will all share our ambition, and that of the government, to complete the recovery, and give our patients the timely, modern, high quality care that they deserve.”
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