Elective recovery
available capacity in the independent sector, and enabling patients to access this diagnostic capacity free at the point of need, we can offer patients a wider choice of venues to receive treatment and in doing so diagnose major illnesses quicker and start treatments sooner. “The Elective Recovery Taskforce has identified additional diagnostic capacity that is available in the independent sector, which we will now use more widely to enable patients to access the care they need quicker.” As well as being more convenient for
patients, CDCs drive efficiency across the NHS by shielding elective diagnostic services from wider hospital pressures. These 13 new CDCs will provide capacity for more than 742,000 extra tests a year once all are fully operational, bolstering access to care. Independent sector led centres will function
like NHS-run CDCs, but staff will be employed by the independent sector, which also owns the buildings. The South West network will be run by InHealth, a specialist provider of diagnostic tests which has worked with hospitals and commissioners across the health service for more than 30 years. By using independent sector staff, the government says that the NHS will be able to keep pace with rising demand in the region and deliver a high number of tests for patients. The Department of Health and Social
Care has also published its response to a consultation on the new procurement system, known as the Provider Selection Regime, which will give commissioners of healthcare services more flexibility when selecting NHS and independent sector healthcare providers. This is intended to “remove unnecessary levels of competitive tendering and barriers to integrating care”, to promote collaboration across the NHS and wider healthcare system. NHS England will evaluate the independent sector’s impact on healthcare capacity and has already begun publishing regular monthly data on independent sector use, showing its contribution to tackling the backlog. NHS England National Clinical Director for
Elective Care, Stella Vig, said: “Hardworking staff across the NHS have made significant progress towards recovering elective care, and it is testament to their efforts that widespread innovative measures are already being rolled out to transform our services and bring down the longest waits for patients. “Alongside this, we have increased our use
of the independent sector by more than a third since April 2021 – carrying out 90,000 appointments and procedures every week, including more than 10,000 diagnostic tests
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good news for patients. This is a real, significant step forward to unlocking more of the capital, capacity and capability of the independent sector.” Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients
– and independent providers will continue to play a key role as we work towards the next milestone in our recovery plan, as well as the additional one stop shops announced as part of NHS England’s rollout of community diagnostic centres.” David Hare, Chief Executive of Independent Healthcare Providers Network, who sat on the taskforce, said: “The publication of this report is
Association, said: “We are advocates of patients having choice and welcome the announcement – in particular, the news that GPs will tell patients, at the point of referral, of options for treatment other than the local hospital or clinic. Patients in England already have a right to choose where they are treated but not all patients are aware of this right or exercise it. Our expectation is that once GPs offer patients a choice of where to receive treatment, more and more patients will choose to travel further to receive treatment if that means shorter waits.” Justin Ash, CEO of Spire Healthcare, said: “The best way to cut waiting times for patients is for
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