At a visit to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom this morning (January 5), the Prime Minister Keir Starmer called-out the ‘naysayers’ who argue that change and reform of the NHS can’t be done, insisting that it not just can be done but it has to be done. “2025 is about rebuilding Britain. And rebuilding our NHS is the cornerstone of that,” he said.
During his speech, Keir Starmer announced a new agreement with the independent sector as part of plans to end the hospital waiting list backlog. The new deal will see the NHS make better use of the independent sector to tackle waiting lists, as well as providing millions more appointments itself.
The Government says the NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement will help to expand capacity and widen patient choice, setting out how more treatments can be delivered through the independent sector, with care remaining free at the point of use. The independent healthcare sector estimates it has capacity to provide an additional one million appointments a year for NHS patients.
The Prime Minister says: “Mission-led government is about doing things differently. When the waiting lists have ballooned to 7.5million, we will not let ideology or old ways of doing things stand in the way of getting people’s lives back on track.
“As we deliver our Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS, it would be a dereliction of duty not to use every available resource to get patients the care they so desperately need.
“That’s why this agreement will make sure working people get greater choice over when and where they receive their treatment, and provide more support to the areas in greatest need.”
The new deal will set out how independent sector capacity can be used to tackle some of the longest waits in specialist areas of treatment, such as gynaecology, where there is a backlog of 260,000 women waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Orthopaedics will also be a key focus, where over 40% of patients are waiting longer than the 18-week target.
The agreement will also give patients in more deprived areas where NHS provision is more limited, a greater choice over where they are treated.
Currently, fewer than a quarter of patients recall being offered a choice of hospital for their treatment. The Government wants all NHS patients to have the opportunity to choose who cares for them, and through the wider elective reform plans set out today will give them more control over their own care.
Partnership commitment
As part of the new agreement, NHS England and the independent sector will:
• Work on aligning NHS and independent sector digital systems around a national set of standards so patients can more easily see appointments and results on the NHS App
• Encourage longer-term contractual relationships to be established, enabling further independent sector investment in NHS capacity
• Work together to grow and develop the elective workforce, including ensuring training occurs consistently in the independent sector.
David Hare is Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN). He says: “Independent providers already treat millions of NHS patients every year, and this agreement builds on these strong foundations by making full use of existing capacity in the sector, ensuring that patients are offered proper choice of provider as well as supporting the sector to invest in, and deliver, an even wider choice of high quality services to NHS patients to bring waiting times down - all delivered free at the point of use and paid for at NHS prices.”
