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NHS performance data shows ‘signs of recovery’, but key targets still not met
NHS performance data, reported in early January, has revealed some promising trends and some early signs of recovery, but key targets are still being missed. The total waiting list for procedures and appointments fell from 7.71 million in October to 7.61 million in November. NHS staff delivered more than 1.63 million treatments in November, the highest on record and around 150,000 more than the same month pre-pandemic. In addition, some 69.4% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E departments within four hours in December, which is worse than November but better than December 2022. The average ambulance response time to
category one calls was 8 minutes 44 seconds in December, two minutes better than December 2022. Similarly, the average category two response time was 45 minutes 57 seconds, 47 minutes faster than last year. The proportion of ambulance handover delays of more than 30 minutes was 31%, which is below the 36% reported during the same week last year. In addition, some 12,459 beds each day were filled with patients no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital on average. At the same time last year, this was over 14,000. Responding to the data, Dr. Layla McCay, director
of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “The latest data shows some very welcome improvements in NHS performance which is testament to the intense preparations and earlier planning by the NHS ahead of what has now proven to be a challenging start to the winter period. But these early signs of recovery are not necessarily the light at the end of the tunnel and a crisis could throw all this progress off course. “The second consecutive fall in the waiting lists and increase in productivity shows that all the planning and hard work can pay off. But
with figures showing that more than 200,000 appointments and operations were cancelled during the recent wave of junior doctors strikes in December and January, the health service still has a mountain to climb and is under no illusions of how much work needs to be done. While staff deserve praise for the monumental effort they have put in health leaders know it is no time to rest on their laurels. Thousands of patients need to have their cancelled appointments and treatments rebooked and we have no way of knowing how many people who stayed away during the strikes may now come forward for care. “The improvement in ambulance response times and handover delays is also welcome, but the fact that services are still failing to meet key national targets shows that there is still a lot of work to be done. A&Es are still under immense pressure with too many patients waiting more than 12 hours, even though there have been improvements since last
year...It is still too early to say if the NHS has turned a corner and a lot more work has to be done to reach the targets that the health service is aiming for. But it appears that some things are heading in
the right direction.” Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s
Fund, added: “These figures show that the NHS is still not meeting the majority of its most important performance targets this winter. On some measures, the situation is better than this time last year, in part thanks to efforts to increase capacity as well as relatively low hospital admissions from COVID-19 and flu, but patients are still not receiving an acceptable level of service. “Only 69% of people are seen within four hours in
A&E compared to the NHS standard of 95%, people are waiting 46 minutes for an ambulance for urgent cases such as strokes when the target is 18 minutes, and 12,200 patients a day remain in hospital despite being well enough to be discharged. Behind each of these figures is a person who is struggling to receive the timely care they need and deserve, despite the best efforts of staff... “With the waiting list for routine care at
7.6 million, it is increasingly unlikely that the Prime Minister’s pledge to improve waiting-list performance by this March will be met. “The NHS attempted to increase its capacity
ahead of winter, for example by expanding the use of virtual hospital beds to care for people in their own homes. However, it remains hamstrung by repeated short-term decisions, such as the delayed release of additional winter funding that helps NHS and social care services prepare for winter. “To end this cycle of poor performance, the
government must make long-term decisions to put the service back on track year round. This includes making health and care a more attractive place to build a career, bolstering out-of-hospital care such as primary, community and social care services, and helping people live healthier lives through a focus on preventing ill health.”
Pilot visits start for GIRFT pancreatic cancer review
Pilot visits for GIRFT’s national review of pancreatic cancer services are about to get under way, ahead of national deep dives at all specialist centres and their referring hospitals in England. Data-driven meetings with the surgical centre
at Oxford University Hospitals and its referring Trusts (Great Western Hospitals, Buckinghamshire Healthcare, Milton Keynes University Hospital and Royal Berkshire) started on 23 January 2024. A second pilot meeting with the surgical centre at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and its referring Trusts (South Warwickshire University and George Eliot Hospital) was scheduled
for 26 January. Once the pilots are evaluated, national deep dives are expected to begin in early March. In August 2023, GIRFT appointed a team of five specialist clinicians to lead the national review into services for pancreatic cancer patients in England. The workstream is designed to support the delivery of the Optimal Care Pathway, a Pancreatic Cancer UK-led initiative which has brought together 300 health professionals and people affected to agree on how standards of diagnosis, treatment and care of those with pancreatic cancer and their families can be improved.
GIRFT’s national review of services will involve data-driven deep dives at all specialist centres and their referring hospitals in England, identifying their progress against the recommendations in the Optimal Care Pathway. It will highlight actions the NHS providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share with other NHS teams and the NHS England Cancer Programme. A resulting national report will outline the extent of variation across England and provide recommendations to improve processes and approaches to achieve better ways of working to improve outcomes.
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