Keir Starmer is set to announce radical NHS changes to cut waiting times

Keir Starmer will attempt to reset his premiership next week by introducing a series of radical NHS changes aimed at cutting waiting times for millions of patients in England.

The shake-up comes after a torrid first six months in government and amid growing frustration among patients. More than 6 million people are waiting for care.

Under the new plans, patients will be able to receive direct referrals for tests and scans for a range of ear, nose and throat, gynaecological, urological, bowel and lung conditions – without first consulting a doctor.

Thousands of patients in England will also be offered a ‘same-day service’, with follow-up consultations on the same day as their scans or tests, allowing more people to start treatment or get the all-clear faster. The Prime Minister will announce.

Furthermore, a major expansion of shielded elective capacity in the NHS will mean that routine care, such as hip and knee replacement operations, will be protected from winter pressures and future pandemics.

Ministers hope the changes to the NHS and a series of other New Year announcements will correct months of drift and set a clear path for the Labor government.

However, senior doctors said they were not convinced Starmer’s plans would work as the NHS staffing crisis meant there were “insufficient” staff to reduce waiting lists in the short term.

Some also warned that without an equally focused effort to save the NHS’s emergency and emergency care, leaving some hospitals overwhelmed, the Prime Minister’s plans to improve routine care were “misguided” and doomed to failure.

Although Rachel Reeves’ Budget promised an extra £22 billion over the next two years to help reduce waiting times, most NHS trust bosses remain sceptical.

A recent study of NHS Providers found that 71% of leaders overall, and 100% of those running acute and ambulance trusts, felt it was unlikely they could make progress by 2029.

The elective change plan, expected to be unveiled on Monday, comes after Starmer publicly promised that by July 2029, 92% of patients would be seen within 18 weeks.

Currently, less than 60% of operations or other procedures take place within a period of 18 weeks. The target has not been achieved for almost ten years.

The changes will mean hundreds of thousands of patients will be able to receive direct referrals for check-ups from their GP for conditions such as shortness of breath, asthma, post-menopausal bleeding, hearing loss, tinnitus, urological conditions and bowel problems. advisor first.

Speeding up diagnosis contributes to reducing waiting lists, because four out of five patients disappear from the list after a diagnostic examination or an outpatient appointment.

Hospitals will also be told to ensure patients are as fit and prepared as possible for surgery while they wait, the Guardian understands. Officials believe this will not only improve patients’ post-surgery outcomes and speed recovery, but also reduce the number of “on-the-day cancellations” and follow-up appointments after surgery.

Patients awaiting surgery will receive support to lose weight and quit smoking while they wait. Research shows that quitting smoking four weeks before surgery can reduce the risk of breathing and wound healing complications by up to a third.

Non-clinical frontline staff, such as GP surgery receptionists, will also undergo mandatory ‘customer service’ training, and hospitals will appoint patient experience champions so that those on waiting lists are kept fully informed and supported while they wait.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard acknowledged that “too many people” were “waiting an unacceptably long time for care”, with one in nine people in England on a waiting list.

However, she said NHS staff had made ‘huge progress’ in reducing long waiting times since the Covid crisis and she was confident they could ‘significantly reduce waiting times again across the country’.

“By making it easier for people to get timely access to the tests they need, in addition to direct referrals and same-day checks and consultations, this plan will help thousands more people get a faster diagnosis, faster treatment or get the all clear so that people can resume their lives as quickly as possible, with the certainty that they do not need further treatment.

“The reforms set out in this plan aim to improve both the way people access and experience routine care and waiting times. We are determined not to hit the target, but to miss the point. Simply put, this is a patient-centered plan.”

Dr. However, Tim Cooksley, former president of the Society for Acute Medicine, which represents hospital doctors, expressed concerns about the plan.

“The innovative elements of the elective recovery plan are welcome. Direct access to services, reducing bureaucracy and streamlining processes are key implementations for NHS recovery. The serious concern, however, is that this fails to recognize that this elective plan will inevitably and predictably fail if emergency care is not restored.

“There is insufficient workforce and capacity to meet the demands of an increasingly aging population with multiple health problems, who simply do not have the resilience to cope with excessive stresses such as winter viruses.

“Hospitals are already bursting at the seams. The idea of ​​continuing to foreclose on elective beds while patients die and receive degrading emergency room care is immoral and misleading.”

A coordinated approach across the system, including social care, aimed at increasing capacity and workforce was essential, Cooksley added. “Without this, there will be continued disappointment, suffering and cancellations for patients waiting for elective care and painful, delayed care for those needing emergency care.”

Details of the plan emerged after official NHS figures on Friday showed the health service was under enormous pressure.

The number of people admitted to hospital with flu in England has quadrupled in a month as health leaders said the “enormous” pressure within the NHS would only worsen as temperatures fall this weekend.

Sarah Arnold, senior policy lead at the King’s Fund, said: “The English NHS, which is already understaffed and understaffed compared to similar healthcare systems in other countries, is continually operating at almost full capacity.”

With seasonal illnesses putting pressure on the NHS every winter, it was ‘worrying’ that this year the flu season had started earlier and flu beds were already ‘significantly higher’ than at any point in the winter season last year. added.