Elective recovery
the independent sector to be fully integrated as part of the solution, and to offer patient choice. We welcome the Elective Recovery Taskforce’s recognition of this and are pleased that it has recommended some bold and far-reaching steps to encourage collaboration, promote patient choice and engage the independent sector to help deliver the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. The Taskforce’s work will genuinely benefit patients, who’ll be able to choose where they can receive treatment most quickly, regardless of whether that’s at an NHS or an independent sector hospital.” The NHS Confederation welcomed the
government’s plans to expand the roll out of CDCs, but called for greater investment. Rory Deighton, director of NHS Confederation’s Acute Network, said: “New investment in diagnostic services is welcome and will bring critical additional capacity to support the elective and diagnostic recovery. “With 7.4m people on waiting lists, the independent sector could have a significant role to play in the elective recovery and utilising it to provide community diagnostic services could speed up care for thousands of patients.
“However, to fully harness this extra capacity,
real funding needs to be made available. We’re seeing our members across England not using the independent sector as much as they might, because Trusts have been signed up to deliver 5.5% efficiency targets. As such they don’t have the monies available to invest in additional capacity, be it in the NHS or independent sector. We should be upfront and honest about this. “The NHS’s partnership with the independent
sector works most effectively where there is long-term funding certainty, that allows local partnerships to be built and sustained over time. That’s not there at the moment. This provision of this resource, along with an end to the industrial action will be critical if these centres are to be successful.” The Health Foundation also said that the
government’s ambitions to maximise the use of the independent sector were “not a panacea”. Tim Gardner, Assistant Director of Policy at the charity, said: “With independent sector hospitals not evenly spread throughout England, and providers ultimately competing with the NHS for the same workforce, it remains to be seen how much more capacity the sector
can genuinely add to efforts to reduce the backlog. While industrial action has recently hampered efforts to cut waiting lists, it is not the cause of long waits for care. Delivering the Prime Minister’s pledge was always dependent on the government acting to address the major problems facing the NHS – from significant workforce shortages to historic under-investment in equipment and buildings, as well as pressures in social care. While those issues remain unresolved, the measures announced are likely to be little more than sticking plasters.”
CSJ
References 1. Elective Recovery Taskforce: delivery plan, February 2022 https://www.england.nhs. uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/ sites/52/2022/02/C1466-delivery-plan-for- tackling-the-covid-19-backlog-of-elective-care. pdf
2. Elective Recovery Taskforce: implementation plan, 4 August 2023,
https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/elective-recovery- taskforce-implementation-plan/elective- recovery-taskforce-implementation-plan
NHS launches hospital matching platform to tackle longest waits
NHS England has announced a new online ‘matching’ platform aimed at ensuring patients can be quickly and easily allocated to hospitals that can take on their care. As part of efforts to reduce the COVID backlog, the tool allows NHS staff to view and add available surgery slots in hospitals across the country, including independent sector capacity. Clinical teams can upload details of patients
on their waiting list who are willing to travel, with other NHS and independent sector providers able to log on and ‘match’ people up to treatment. Initially introduced for patients needing a hospital admission, the platform will now expand to include cancer, diagnostic checks, and outpatient appointments. Around four in five patients on an NHS waiting list won’t need a hospital admission. Since its launch in January, more than 1,700 offers of support have been made with thousands of patients set to benefit as the platform grows. The system is mainly used for patients who
have been waiting the longest, with health chiefs calling it a “key tool” as part of the NHS’ ongoing ambitions to bring down the backlogs that built up during the pandemic, with the next ambition to virtually eliminate 65 week waits by April 2024. Patient information is included to help
organisations decide whether they can pick up
the case including how far the patient is willing to travel, the severity of the illness, their BMI, and how long they have been waiting for care. If more than one provider offers treatment,
the options are put to the patient who can then choose based on factors including how far they would have to travel. Gynaecology, colorectal and trauma and orthopaedics are the top three specialties to have benefited from this digital mutual aid so far, but hundreds of different treatments or appointments can be uploaded. Chief executive of the Patients Association,
Rachel Power, said: “We welcome the expansion of the hospital matching platform and think it will make it even easier for patients and the healthcare professional to make a decision together about where to have treatment or a test. “Patient choice has been a right for over decade
but not all patients are aware they have the right, and it isn’t always offered to them. Hopefully, making it easy for health professionals to easily see the choices of where patients can be treated will increase the number of patients who can take advantage of mutual aid within the NHS. “We’re very supportive of mutual aid. We’ve
worked with the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme on a mutual aid programme in the East of England that gave patients the option to have surgery at a hospital other than their local
24
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I September 2023
one. We know patients welcomed getting surgery earlier and together with them and GIRFT we’ve created information for other patients about the benefits of elective surgical hubs.” The Independent Healthcare Providers Network
(IHPN) also welcomed the announcement. David Furness, Director of Policy and Delivery,
IHPN, said: “The hospital matching platform is a good example of the way that the NHS and independent sector can work together effectively for the benefit of patients to reduce waiting times and get them seen more quickly. We encourage Trusts and clinicians to fully explore this new option, sharing intelligence and information so that the right providers can be offered, to provide the right care.” Furness added that research conducted
by IHPN and the Patients Association last year showed patients were prepared to travel if it would bring down waiting times: “Almost three quarters of patients (73%) said they would be happy to travel more than 30 minutes to get treatment more quickly, and we know it is possible to potentially knock weeks or months off potential waits by travelling further. “This builds on the announcements from the
elective recovery taskforce about how important patient choice, as well as closer partnership working, will be to reducing waiting times for patients.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
