Streeting highlights additional investment for English hospitals that are fastest in reducing waiting times
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Hospitals in England that are fastest in reducing waiting times for care will be rewarded with a share of millions of pounds in additional investment in buildings and equipment, Wes Streeting will announce on Monday.
The Health Secretary’s move aims to incentivize NHS leaders to meet the target of 92 per cent of patients having to wait no longer than 18 weeks to start non-urgent treatment after being referred to a consultant.
Last month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave new urgency to the standard, first introduced by Tony Blair two decades ago, when he named it one of six “milestones” for his government and pledged to achieve it by the end of the current year Parliament.
But this benchmark has not been reached in almost a decade as austerity measures, the pandemic and increasing demand from an aging and growing population added to the strain on the healthcare system.
Ahead of Monday’s announcement, Department of Health officials told the Financial Times that the NHS trusts that had made the most progress in meeting the 18-week deadline were in need of additional funding for capital projects – such as new high-tech scanners or urgently needed ones Ward maintenance – referral to standard of care would be available.
Performance will be measured by the percentage of patients treated within that period, they said.
The lure of additional capital funding will appeal to a service that has long lagged behind comparable countries in the amounts invested in infrastructure.
In a government-commissioned report last year, Lord Ara Darzi, a surgeon and former health minister, identified a Capital deficit of about £37 billion.
Streeting said some hospital owners were already leading the way, conducting surgeries “in innovative, more productive ways.” This government will support them with new capital investment and enable them to address the backlog.”
Trusts that treated more patients should be paid more for their work, “and good performance should be rewarded to incentivize great performance – this is how we will reduce waiting times,” he added.
The proposal will be part of an electoral reform plan due to be published by the government and the NHS on Monday, which will set out how the NHS will return to the 18-week standard.
The action is supported by £25.6 billion announced for the NHS in the October Budget. Ministers say the extra money will help fund another 2 million appointments within a year, but health authorities have warned against this “Confusion” about whether to prioritize the achievement of performance targets or the increase in registration numbers in winter.
According to the most recent figures available, 7.54 million patients were waiting for procedures and appointments at the end of October. About 40 percent of people waited longer than 18 weeks.
The pressure on the NHS was underlined by data on Friday which showed a Sharp increase in flu cases over the holidays. At the end of last week, more than 5,000 patients were hospitalized with the virus, almost 3.5 times more than the same week in 2023.
Ministers are also facing a backlash from activists and opposition parties after Streeting said on Friday that a new commission looking into social care reform would not deliver its final report until 2028.
It has been more than a quarter of a century since the first of several major inquiries into social care, which long weighed heavily on the NHS but received little mention in the 2024 general election, was published.
