Long term plan must be realistic about recovering NHS performance
12 December 2018
- The Labour Party has released a new analysis on NHS waiting list numbers.
- It argues that for certain treatments, the number of patients stuck on waiting lists has increased by over 100,000.
- Performance against the NHS Constitution’s target for at least 92% of patients to wait less than 18 weeks for treatment has not been met since February 2016.
The director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:
“Many hospital trusts are telling us that at the moment they’re finding it very difficult to deliver all of the national performance targets – in A&E, cancer and planned operations for example.
The upcoming long-term plan for NHS must be realistic about the time and resources that will be required to recover performance and reduce waiting lists.
“The pressure from rapidly rising demand, severe workforce challenges and the impact of the funding squeeze are being felt across the health and care system. Trusts are seeing more patients than ever, but these wider pressures are having a knock-on effect on the speed at which patients are receiving the care they need.
“The upcoming long-term plan for NHS must be realistic about the time and resources that will be required to recover performance and reduce waiting lists, and how much of a focus this must have against competing priorities within the long-term plan.”