Cash incentives for GPs under Labour’s radical plan to cut NHS waiting lists
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Doctors will be given £20 each time they consult with a specialist to see if there is an alternative to hospital visits. GPs will be offered financial incentives to discuss with specialists whether patients can be treated outside hospital, under radical plans to cut NHS waiting lists.
Doctors will be given £20 each time they consult a specialist either by phone or email under the so-called advice and guidance (A&G) scheme, to see if there is an alternative to hospital visits and treatment. The plan is one of a series of reforms being announced on Monday by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, who have promised to ensure that 92% of NHS patients wait no longer than 18 weeks for treatment.
Government officials said that too often GPs were arranging for patients to go to outpatient departments which caused avoidable pressure on hospitals. With MPs returning to Westminster, ministers will also unveil upgrades to the NHS app to enable patients to choose providers, book appointments in more settings and receive test results.
“If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working-class patients should be able to as well, and this government will give them that choice,” Streeting said. “Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcare.”.
