Patients to be able to skip NHS waiting lists if they can travel for treatment
Ambulance crews transport a patient at City Hospital in Birmingham.
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Patients on the NHS are set to be offered treatment sooner so long as they are able and keen to travel for treatment, as the government looks to chip away at enormous waiting lists.
The NHS has developed an online ‘matching’ platform that promises to provide patients the opportunity to opt for quicker treatment at a hospital or private facility anywhere in the UK.
Initially launched in January just for patients requiring hospital admission, the new system is now being rolled out to include cancer, diagnostic checks, and outpatient appointments.
Rishi Sunak has recently addressed the inertia over waiting lists by deflecting blame onto NHS staff strikes, as doctors prepare to go on strike again.
Katie Ffolloitt-Powell and Mike Carr of the Patient Transport Services of South Central Ambulance Services prepare to move an elderly non-COVID-19 patient from hospital to a care home in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
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Junior doctors are walking out on Friday for a four day strike over the weekend, while consultants have opted for a 48 hour no-show beginning 24 August and running into the bank holiday weekend.
In February 2020, there were 2,000 people in England who had been waiting for more than a year since being referred by a consultant.
Two years later, this figure has ballooned to 300,000.
More than 1,700 offers of support are said to have been made already through the new system, though it is unclear how many patients have benefited.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay, leaves 10 Downing Street, London, following a Cabinet meeting.
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Clinicians are encouraged to upload patient details to the system to allow other NHS facilities or private providers to match patients to available slots.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay hopes the expansion "will help us to deliver thousands more diagnostic checks for major conditions and offer people treatment sooner - often without the need to go to hospital".
He added: "We are using all tools at our disposal to bring down waiting lists - one of the government's top five priorities - while this platform will also help us to drive better collaboration across the NHS and the independent sector to treat patients more quickly."
Asked about those who are unable to travel, an NHS spokesperson said there is local funding and support in place to enable people who may struggle to travel, which could include provision of taxis or hotels.
Mohammad Altuamah, 16, wears a virtual reality headset used for Virtual Reality Distraction Therapy (VRDT), ahead of having minor surgery at Leeds Children's Hospital, as NHS children's hospitals are holding hundreds of appointments at extra clinics to help deal with record backlogs caused by the pandemic.
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NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “Despite significant pressure on services, NHS staff have already made incredible progress against our elective recovery plan, and this smart new tool will help us to continue to reduce long waits for patients.
“It shows, once again, the benefits of having a national health service – NHS staff can now work even more closely with other hospitals across the country to identify capacity and conveniently match patients to available treatment and appointment slots.”
Sunak is under intense scrutiny to deliver on NHS waiting lists, for the Prime Minister made it one of his five priorities in a speech made in January.
Last month, Sunak lamented that industrial action in the health sector had made the target “more challenging”.
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Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England speaking at the NHS anniversary ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London, as part of the health service's 75th anniversary celebrations.
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Patients Association chief executive 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 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.”
It comes following the government’s decision to scrap Covid and flu jabs for under 65s.
The announcement has spread ripples of alarm through the medical community, with some professionals speaking out publicly to express fears that an already beleaguered NHS will not be able to cope with increased admissions this winter.
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