Starmer vows to cut number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment by 450,000 by end of 2026
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Sir Keir Starmer vowed to cut the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment by 450,000 within two years as he sought a New Year reboot for his Government. The Prime Minister pledged that by the end of 2026 two thirds of patients would be getting treatment within this timescale.
Latest figures show 59 per cent of patients are currently having to wait longer than 18 weeks. Ministers described an Elective Reform Plan, published by NHS England, as a “whole system approach” to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.
The Labour government has pledged that 92 per cent of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, a target that has not been hit for nearly decade. Key to hitting this goal is an extra 40,000 NHS appointments, operations and diagnostics every week, equivalent to two million a year, which was promised by Labour at the July General Election.
The new plan aims to deliver half a million more appointments a year through greater use of community diagnostic centres and 14 new surgical hubs in existing hospitals being opened up by June and three others expanded. Health chiefs will aim to “free up” a million or so “non-essential” follow-up appointments by asking patients whether they want them.
Patients with long-term conditions may also be seen in “group appointments where appropriate”. GPs will be funded to work with hospital doctors to get specialist advice before making referrals, so that more patients get the care they need without being referred onto the waiting list.
