The RCP has welcomed a commitment from the UK government to reduce NHS treatment delays and has called for ambitious action to bring down waiting lists.
Senior censor and vice president for education and training, Dr Mumtaz Patel, who is acting as RCP president said:
‘We welcome the prime minister’s ambition to reduce delays and restore the 18–week NHS standard for treatment. Growing delays for patients have been an ongoing concern for the RCP - patients must be able to access the right healthcare when they need it. Most patients who are waiting for planned care, are waiting to see a physician-led team. We agree that the NHS is not beyond repair, but ambitious action will be needed to bring down waiting lists.
‘To deliver this milestone, the UK government needs to address issues including poor infrastructure, basic IT, and an understaffed and demoralised workforce. Doctors are already working incredibly hard despite challenging conditions – direct clinical care in modern medicine is intense work. Administrative support is vital to increasing productivity and assisting doctors to carry out their roles. Realistic expectations need to be set to ensure doctors do not face further burnout in trying to meet this target. We must be mindful of the potential repercussions that such a big focus on this metric could have for other parts of the system. For example, those clinicians who are working in the overwhelmed urgent and emergency system may have reduced capacity to train new staff, which will make it harder to increase the workforce. Additionally, this lack of capacity will also lead to less capacity to follow up with patients following admission, which can result in increased length of stay.
‘Ensuring that patients can receive care in the right place and at the right time is vital, and we hope that a focus on this 18–week milestone will not mean that other crucial reforms are overlooked. We are pleased that the UK government intends to ‘transform the model of care’ with a focus on prevention and dealing with issues earlier when they are easier to treat or cure. As the RCP said in our submission to the UK government’s 10-year plan consultation, an integrated care approach across primary, secondary, community and social care will be key. The milestone will not be reached if the current models of care remain.
‘What is missing from yesterday’s announcement is how the UK government will deliver on its promise to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy in England. Data from the ONS published this week shows continued geographical disparities in life expectancy across the country, with the highest life expectancies for men and women found in the south of England and the lowest in the north of England. Improving the health of the nation will reduce avoidable illness and avoidable demand on the NHS. Cross-governmental working will be key to truly turn the dial from sickness to prevention, as much of what makes us ill in the first place sits outside of the NHS and the UK government department of health and social care.
‘The government must set out its plans for its health mission delivery board and how it will tackle the social determinants of health – this will be a vital opportunity to deliver the cross-government strategy to reduce health inequalities that we and over 250 other organisations of the Inequalities in Health Alliance have long called for.’