New elective plan marks an important step forward in helping bring an end to long waits

You can find our quote included in the press release from NHS England. The extended version is provided below.

Responding to NHS England’s announcement that a new plan to cut waiting lists will be launched next week NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said:

“NHS leaders share the government’s ambition to reduce waiting times and get more people off what have often become very lengthy waiting lists. This updated elective plan is a serious attempt to reduce waiting lists in a more sustainable way and marks an important step forward in helping bring an end to a period of long waits.

“We have consistently argued that any plan to reduce waiting lists must align with the government’s direction of travel on NHS reform over the long term, so it’s welcome that the elective plan attempts to do that. Previous efforts have overly focused on ‘tail-gunning’ by focusing on the longest waiters, but this new plan is a welcome step forward in focusing on the overall size and shape of the waiting list. This means NHS organisations can focus on the patients with the greatest clinical need.

“The plan is underpinned by a number of measures that will ensure efforts to reduce waiting lists align with the major shifts in care that are being prioritised by the government. These measures include empowering patients with better data and choice, redesigning pathways and increasing focus on advice and guidance which can help to deliver better outcomes for patients, investing in secondary prevention and focusing on the specialist clinical areas where the biggest gains can be made. It is also important to see more collaboration with the independent sector as this will provide much-needed support and capacity. 

“Local NHS leaders will need to understand the plan in more detail, particularly when it comes to the future of the elective recovery fund and the budgets that they will have in place to deliver the levels of activity required to hit the 18-week target by the end of this Parliament. That clarity should come as part of the planning round for 2025/26, so local leaders will want to emerge from this with confidence that they have the funding they need to deliver the 18-week target.”