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NHS strikes deal with private sector to cut waiting lists across the UK
Emily Sergeant
A new deal has been struck between the NHS and the private sector to help tackle waiting lists across the UK.
As part of a “radical” new plan set to be launched by the NHS and Government next week to end the hospital waiting list backlog and to give patients nationwide “greater choice”, hundreds of thousands of people will soon be able to get directly referred and booked in for tests, checks, and scans by their GP for a range of conditions.
The new deal – which is called the ‘NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement’ – will mean the NHS gets to make better use of the private sector to tackle waiting lists, as well as provide millions more appointments itself.
As the independent healthcare sector estimates it has capacity to provide an additional one million appointments for NHS patients per year, the new deal will help expand capacity and widen patient choice by setting out how more treatments can be delivered through the private sector, but with care still remaining free at the point of use.
Under the upgraded services, millions of people will receive quicker diagnosis and treatment to deliver routine within 18 weeks.
Thousands more will receive a diagnosis and treatment date within a single day.
The agreement will also give patients in more deprived areas of the UK, where NHS provision is typically more limited, a greater choice in where they are treated, as currently less than a quarter of patients can remember being offered a choice of hospital for their treatment.
The Government says it wants all NHS patients to “have the opportunity to choose who cares for them”.
This agreement has been published alongside the Government and NHS’s Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a roadmap to meeting the 18-week standard.
The plan for patients will also ensure that people are as “fit and prepared as possible” for treatment while they wait for an operation, which the the Government and NHS claims will not only boost post-op outcomes and speed up recovery, but also reduce the number of on-the-day cancellations too.
Commenting on the deal, Secretary of State Wes Streeting said: “As patients, we’ve all experienced the hoops you have to jump through to get the test or scan you and your GP know you need. It’s a waste of patients’ time, delays diagnoses when every minute matters, and means consultants are forced to tick boxes rather than treat patients.
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“The reforms we’re announcing will speed up diagnoses and free up NHS staff to treat more patients [and] our plan for change will cut waiting lists from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks.”
Featured Image – Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)