Plan to hit 18-week NHS wait target 'set to fail'

University courses Medicine & Psychology
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Health leaders have warned that the government’s plan to address the hospital backlog in England will fail without major reforms to how services operate. Labour aims to increase weekly operations and appointments by 40,000 to meet the 18-week waiting time target. However, NHS Confederation research found this would cover only 15% of the additional capacity needed. They call for wider transformation, including better use of digital technology. An upcoming government review led by Lord Ara Darzi will highlight issues such as NHS productivity and the decline in children’s health, with 800,000 children on waiting lists.

What do you think are the most important changes needed in the NHS to effectively address the backlog and improve patient care?

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It sounds like such a massive challenge, especially with 800,000 children on waiting lists! I feel like better use of digital technology could really help streamline things, but I wonder what else can be done to support NHS staff and improve productivity? Do you think increasing staff or focusing more on preventive care could also make a big difference?

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I didn’t understand the scale of the issue until I read this ! The NHS certainly need to increase availability of appointments and process patients much quicker.

  • One thing that I think would help this is enhancing social care capacity and employing people like social workers with medical knowledge to ensure that patients are swiftly moved from hospital beds to effective social care to increase capacity for other patients.
  • In addition it may also be helpful to look at the feasibility of night time appointments to help reduce the backlog. Whilst it may not be convenient for some patients if it helps speed up their recovery then it may be an option they seek to choose.
  • Reducing hospital workload by educating people on how to take care of their own health, recognise symptoms of disease and illness and increase GP capacity may also help. An online GP may also help combat this.

There is certainly a big mountain to climb, but I think the fact that the junior doctor pay dispute being resolved is a step in the right direction.

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