Sir Keir Starmer vowed to cut the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment by 450,000 within two years as he sought a New Year reboot for his Government.The Prime Minister pledged that by the end of 2026 two thirds of patients would be getting treatment within this timescale.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00What we're doing today is announcing far more appointments, more capacity in the system,
00:06both in diagnostic centres in the community and new surgical hubs, but also crucially
00:10empowering patients both to be able to make appointments that are more convenient to them,
00:16but also make sure that they've got information while they're on those waiting lists, because
00:20what happens currently, as many people know, is that you get referred, perhaps with a GP,
00:26and then you don't hear for months on end, and you don't know what you should be doing.
00:30In the meantime, we want to make sure that people are given the information to help support
00:34themselves while they're on those waiting lists. Maybe there are things that they can do to help
00:38themselves, but also make sure that they know that there is more capacity in the system that
00:44they can use, perhaps through the app, their own situation to book appointments that are more
00:49convenient and, crucially, get that information from the hospitals. We want to make sure that
00:54people are waiting no longer than 18 weeks. Currently, they're waiting up to 18 months,
00:58so more capacity, but also more power to patients to be able to choose appointments
01:02that are more convenient to them at more convenient locations.