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Around 400,000 patients who have been waiting the longest for elective treatment will be offered the opportunity to travel to a different hospital to be treated sooner, NHS England has said.
Any patient who has been waiting longer than 40 weeks for treatment and who does not have an appointment within the next eight weeks will be contacted by their hospital.
It comes after analysis by the Health Foundation indicated that the waiting list for elective NHS care will peak at eight million next summer if current trends continue, regardless of whether NHS strike action continues.
Patients contacted by their hospital will be asked to specify how far they are willing to travel, with the NHS then identifying alternative hospitals with capacity.
NHS England said in some cases the request will be uploaded to the NHS’s Digital Mutual Aid System – its hospital matching platform – to see if NHS or independent sector providers elsewhere in the country can provide their care.
Patients will remain on the waiting list for their home hospital until there is confirmation that their full care pathway has been moved to another provider. If no alternative is found within eight weeks they will retain their position on their current waiting list.
The NHS estimated that approximately 400,000 patients – or 5% of the overall waiting list – meet the criteria and will be contacted by their hospital.
This system is made possible, the NHS said, thanks to ‘the hard work of NHS staff‘ as well as innovations such as ‘surgical hubs, community diagnostic centres, and the use of robots and AI to speed up surgery and other treatments‘.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: ‘Despite pressure and the huge disruption caused by strikes, NHS staff have made great progress in reducing the longest waits for patients. This new step to offer NHS patients who have been waiting the longest the opportunity to consider travelling for treatment is just another example of how we are introducing new approaches to reduce how long patients wait, while improving the choice and control they have over their own care.
‘Giving this extra option to these patients also demonstrates the clear benefits of a single national health service, with staff able to share capacity right across the country.
‘So, whether a patient’s care moves to the next town or somewhere further away, it is absolutely right that we make the most of available capacity across the country to continue to reduce the backlogs that have inevitably built up due to the pandemic and provide the best possible service for patients.’
Louise Ansari, chief executive of Healthwatch England, welcomed the news but said: ‘We’re now calling on NHS England and integrated care boards to work together to ensure everyone choosing to travel for faster treatment is given support, including with the costs of transport and accommodation – as described in the Elective Recovery Plan. Otherwise, this option risks deepening health inequalities by only providing solutions to people who can afford to contribute towards the additional costs of travel.‘
A version of this story was originally published by our sister publication Healthcare Leader.
