More patients to be able to skip NHS waiting lists – if they can travel for treatment
Thousands of patients stuck on NHS waiting lists could be offered treatment much sooner at another facility – as long as they are willing and able to travel.
As part of government efforts to bring down record waiting lists for healthcare, the NHS is expanding its new online “matching” platform to offer more patients quicker treatment in a hospital or facility run by the independent sector anywhere in the UK.
NHS waiting lists stood at 7.47 million at the end of May, the highest number since records began in 2007.
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The government is turning to the private sector in an attempt to cut NHS waiting lists.
The “matching” system was initially introduced just for patients needing hospital admission, but it is now being expanded to include cancer, diagnostic checks, and outpatient appointments.
If the patient is willing and able to travel, clinicians will be able to upload their details to the system, and then other NHS facilities or private providers will be able to “match” people to available slots.
If more than one provider offers treatment, the patient will be given the choice of where to go based on factors such as the distance of travel.
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Since the system first launched in January, more than 1,700 offers of support have been made – although it is unclear how many patients have benefitted.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said in a statement that “incredible progress” has been made tackling the vast waiting lists for treatment “despite significant pressure on services”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Steve Barclay pictured on a visit to a medical centre in Nottingham in June
She said that this “smart new tool” shows “the benefits of having a national health service”, and added: “Technology is already transforming the way we work in the NHS and we will continue to embrace the latest innovations, like this one, to deliver the best possible for care for patients.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the expansion of this system “will help us to deliver thousands more diagnostic checks for major conditions and offer people treatment sooner – often without the need to go to hospital”.
He added: “We are using all tools at our disposal to bring down waiting lists – one of the government’s top five priorities – while this platform will also help us to drive better collaboration across the NHS and the independent sector to treat patients more quickly.”
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made cutting NHS waiting lists one of his five priorities in a speech he gave in January – but last month, he said industrial action in the health service had made his mission “more challenging”.
Analysis by Sky News carried out in May found that the number of people waiting more than a year for hospital treatment is 186 times higher than before the pandemic began.
Junior doctors and consultants are set to take further industrial action this month
At the end of February, 300,000 people in England had been waiting for more than a year since being referred by a consultant. Two years ago, in February 2020, that figure was below 2,000.
Junior doctors are currently preparing for another four-day strike beginning on 11 August, while consultants are set to walk out for 48 hours from 24 August in an ongoing dispute with the government over pay and working conditions.
A woman who was stabbed to death in north London has been named by police – as a man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Pamela Munro, 45, was found with a stab wound and died at the scene in Ayley Croft, Enfield, on Saturday evening, the Metropolitan Police said.
A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday and is in custody, the force added.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John said: “Investigating officers have worked relentlessly across the weekend to investigate the circumstances around Pamela’s death.
“We continue to support her family who are understandably devastated.”
Police at the scene at Ayley Croft in Enfield
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The Met Police has asked anyone with information or who was driving through Ayley Court between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday and may have dashcam footage to contact the force.
A “British man” has died after being beaten and set on fire by a mob in Ecuador, according to reports by media in the South American country.
According to reports, the man – who has not been officially identified – had been detained by police after being accused of being involved in a fatal shooting.
Ecuadorian news outlet Ecuavisa reported that the man had been taken to a police station Playas del Cuyabeno, a remote village in the Amazon rainforest.
While there, a group broke into the station and took the man away. He was then set on fire in the street, it is reported, and died from his burns.
The incident reportedly happened in the Playas del Cuyabeno area of Sucumbios province
Another local report, from EXTRA.ec, said that specialist police units had been slow to arrive due to the geographical conditions of the area – which is accessible by river.
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According to reports, police officers at the station apparently decided they could not intervene when the mob arrived out of concerns for their own safety.
It is understood the UK Foreign Office is following up reports about the incident and working with local authorities to confirm the details.
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