The UK government has confirmed that the National Health Service (NHS) will receive substantial funding to support the delivery of an additional 40,000 elective appointments per week. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to address the long-standing issue of waiting times in the NHS.
Government Pledge and Funding Commitment
The government’s ambition is to ensure that 92% of patients start routine hospital treatment within 18 weeks by the end of the current parliament. To achieve this, the NHS has been pledged an extra 40,000 appointments every week, equivalent to two million appointments annually.
This commitment is backed by new funding aimed at enhancing the NHS’s capacity to meet growing demand.
Strategies to Increase Capacity
To deliver these additional appointments, the NHS plans to implement several strategies:
Sharing Waiting Lists and Independent Sector Involvement
Neighbouring hospitals will be enabled to share waiting lists to optimize resource allocation. Additionally, the independent sector will be commissioned to provide extra capacity, helping to reduce the backlog of patients waiting for treatment.
Incentivizing NHS Staff
NHS staff will be incentivized to work extra evenings and weekends, with some staff being paid time-and-a-half for these shifts. However, concerns have been raised that this incentive may not be sufficient, as many NHS trusts are already offering similar pay rates
Elective Hubs and Centres of Expertise
The NHS Confederation and healthcare consultancy CF (Carnall Farrar) have emphasized the need for more radical reforms, including the creation of elective hubs and centres of expertise for complex care.
These measures would involve doubling the current capacity of elective hubs and establishing specialized centres for complex treatments. This would require significant capital investment to boost infrastructure, with the NHS Confederation calling for annual capital funding to increase to at least £14.1 billion.
The Challenges
Despite the additional funding and planned increases in capacity, there are significant challenges to overcome. Demand for NHS services is growing at an average rate of 3.8% per year, outpacing the rate of funding growth.
To prevent the waiting list from increasing further, the NHS would need to deliver an additional 5.1 million outpatient appointments, 500,000 day-case procedures, and 150,000 overnight stays in the 2024/25 financial year.
Addressing the Backlog
The current waiting list stands at 7.6 million people. Consequently, addressing this backlog will necessitate treating an additional 3.96 million people over the next five years. Furthermore, this undertaking will require a significant increase in healthcare services.
Specifically, it will translate to an extra 1.1 million outpatient appointments, 120,000 day-case procedures and 36,000 overnight stays annually. Moreover, achieving this goal will necessitate substantial resources and strategic planning.
NHS Reforms
To meet the 18-week waiting time target, the NHS will need to provide 50% more activity than it currently delivers by 2028/29.
The plan includes a 43% increase in elective beds and adding 730 theaters and 3,800 beds at ‘cold’ sites. Streamlined decision-making and increased capital funding will be crucial in facilitating these changes.
In Conclusion
The government’s funding boost is a promising step towards reducing NHS waiting times, but it is only the beginning.
As the NHS Confederation has highlighted, “40,000 extra appointments a week won’t be nearly enough to hit the target” without further reforms and transformation in care pathways.
Sources: THX News, HM Treasury, The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP & The Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP.
