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.
🎯 Our Elective Reform Plan will cut waiting times from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks, helping patients get faster diagnosis and treatment.
This is part of our Plan for Change to rebuild the health system.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 6, 2025
Under the upgraded services, millions of people will receive quicker diagnosis and treatment to deliver routine within 18 weeks.
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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.
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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.
Millions of people are set to receive faster diagnoses and treatment thanks to a major new NHS plan.
This ambitious blueprint will give patients more control of their own care.
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.
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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.
“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.”
But it’s swings and roundabouts, as with all those impressive titles comes a less-than-impressive one, as the city has also been named one of the top 10 most congested cities with the worst traffic in the UK.
According to a new study conducted by the RAC, using data from INRIX, it was found that Manchester ranked number four on the list, as motorists lost a total of 61 hours stuck in traffic over the course of 2024 – which was estimated to cost them around £570 extra.
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s most congested cities / Credit: Manchester City Council (via Facebook)
Manchester wasn’t the only northern city on the list either, as Leeds and Sheffield also feature in the top 10, alongside the surprising addition of the lively Greater Manchester town of Wigan.
Yes, that’s right – it may not technically be a city, but for some reason, Wigan has also found itself featured on the list of UK’s most congested cities, as the study found that motorists there wasted an average of 57 hours stuck in traffic in 2024, and sadly had to part with an extra £532 because of it.
The UK’s most congested cities
London
Bristol
Leeds
Manchester
Bath
Birmingham
Wigan
Chelmsford
Sheffield
When it comes to the top spot on the list, that of course goes to London.
London’s drivers lost 101 hours sitting in congestion in 2024, which was a 2% increase in delays from the previous 12 months, and this means that the capital also accounts for approximately 50% of all UK traffic delay.
Looking nationally as a whole, the data also revealed that the country lost approximately £7.7 billion in 2024, which is £200 million more than in 2023.
The average UK driver lost around 62 hours due to traffic congestion last year, according to the study, which is up only one hour from the previous 12-month period, and this works out to £581 per driver per year.
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best’ in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best police forces in the country’.
Residents across Greater Manchester are being urged to have their say on proposals to increase the police precept that forms part of their council tax bill.
In case you weren’t familiar, three quarters of police funding comes from a central Government grant, but the remaining quarter comes from Greater Manchester Combined Authority‘s (GMCA) police precept, all of which helps enable Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to build on a range of improvements delivered over the last few years.
Funding helps GMP to further improve the speed of answering 999 and 101 calls, reduce and prevent neighbourhood crimes and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), improve road and transport safety across Manchester city centre, and bring more sex offenders to justice, among many other things.
Have your say on how we fund GMP’s vital services.
Your input helps us retain neighbourhood policing and keep Greater Manchester safe.
Together, we can ensure we are delivering the commitments that matter most to you.
— Greater Manchester Combined Authority (@greatermcr) January 7, 2025
According to GMCA, these are some of the things that people in the region said were “important to them” following “extensive engagement and consultation” with communities.
The proposed increase to the residents’ council tax bills would be £14 a year for a ‘Band D’ property (£1.17 a month), which equates to £10.89 per year (91 pence a month) for an average ‘Band B’ property – with the majority of properties in Greater Manchester falling within Bands A and B.
Addressing the potential increase, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “We set out a number of commitments last year on what Greater Manchester Police would deliver with the precept, and they delivered on every one of them.
Council tax could be increased to help keep Greater Manchester Police ‘one of the best’ in the UK / Credit: gov.uk
GMP are now answering 999 calls in record time, attending incidents sooner and investing in neighbourhood policing and crime prevention teams [and] as a result, we’ve seen crime reduce across the board, with the most marked improvement in neighbourhood crime which has reduced by 17% in the past year.”
He continued: “I know that times are tough for our residents, but investment through the precept is vital to maintain this improvement.
Emily Sergeant -
7th January 2025 
