More investment is on the way for UK hospitals to cut waiting times faster

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UK hospitals that deliver the fastest improvements in times of care will be awarded millions of pounds worth of extra investment in buildings and equipment, Wes Streeting will announce on Monday.

The move by the health secretary is aimed at encouraging NHS leaders that 92 per cent of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks to start urgent treatment after being referred to a consultant.

Last month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer named it one of the six “decisions” his administration has made to inject a new state of emergency, first put in place by Tony Blair two decades ago, and vowed to see it through to the end. The current parliament.

But as austerity, the pandemic and an aging and ever-increasing population put pressure on the health service, the measure failed to materialize for nearly 10 years.

Ahead of Monday’s announcement, Department of Health officials told the Financial Times that extra funding for capital projects – such as high-tech new scanners or much-needed ward repairs – will be available to NHS trusts that have made the biggest improvements by completing 18 weeks. Send to medical level.

They say performance is measured by the percentage of patients seen within that time frame.

The lure of additional capital funds echoes the long-standing record of aggregate investment in infrastructure by comparative countries.

In a government report last year, Lord Ara Darzi, a surgeon and former health minister, A A capital shortfall of around £37bn.

Street said some hospital trusts are leading “innovative, more effective ways” of surgery. This government supports them with new capital investment, and allows them to operate in the backlog.

Trusts that treat more patients should be paid more for their work “and good performance should be rewarded to encourage good performance – this way we will avoid waiting times,” he said.

The proposal will be part of an electoral reform plan 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 drive is being funded by the £25.6bn announced for the NHS in the October Budget. Ministers say the extra money will help fund an extra 2mn appointments a year, but health leaders have warned. “Confusion” about prioritization Hitting performance goals or increasing leverage.

At the end of October, the most recent figures are available, patients were waiting for 7.54mn procedures and appointments. 40 percent of people were waiting longer than 18 weeks.

The pressures on the NHS are expected to increase with Friday’s data A sharp rise in flu cases During the holidays. At the end of last week, more than 5,000 patients were hospitalized with the virus, which is 3.5 times more than the same week in 2023.

Ministers are also facing a backlash from campaigners and opposition parties after Streeting on Friday said a new commission to study how to improve social care will not deliver its final report until 2028.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since the first release of a number of major questions about social care, which has weighed heavily on the NHS but has barely been mentioned in the run-up to the 2024 general election.