Patients in Erith and Thamesmead will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster under a new plan to tackle hospital backlogs set out by the Prime Minister earlier this month.
In London, nearly half a million people – 476,131 in total – have been on waiting lists for more than 18 weeks, including an alarming 103,210 people within the NHS South East London ICB, causing a significant impact on their health.
Addressing the 7.5 million-strong waiting list inherited by the government, and ensuring the NHS once again meets the 18-week standard for planned treatment, is a crucial milestone in the government’s Plan for Change.
Restoring this 18-week standard will mean patients in Erith and Thamesmead no longer have their lives put at risk or on hold – instead getting the treatment they need when they need it.
At the moment, too many patients face long waits for appointments or surgeries and may be referred to hospitals they don’t choose at inconvenient times, while appointments and staff time are being lost to inefficiencies or inconsistencies in care.
The Labour Government’s Elective Reform Plan, published this month by NHS England, sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.
This includes opening Community Diagnostic Centres on evenings and weekends so that many more people will be able to access tests and checks while going about their daily lives.
The NHS will also increase the number of surgical hubs, which will help protect planned care from the impact of winter pressures and will cut waiting lists for standard surgeries, in turn freeing up beds in acute wards.
The plan will drive forward progress on the government’s first steps commitment to deliver 2 million extra appointments in its first year, equivalent to 40,000 every week. The reforms will put patients first, harness technology to support staff and help the NHS to do things more efficiently.
Under the plan, 65% of patients will be treated within 18 weeks by the end of next year. Based on the size of the current waiting list, that would mean a fall of more than 450,000 people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
After 14 years of decline, these plans will ensure that NHS patients and the people of South East London – and across the country – will at last have access to the timely treatment they need and deserve, while NHS staff will once again be able to deliver the high standard of care they are so deeply committed to providing.
Abena Oppong-Asare, MP for Erith and Thamesmead said:
“Too many residents in our community of Erith and Thamesmead and South East London are stuck on the record long waiting lists inherited by this Labour Government at huge cost to their health.
“That’s why the reforms announced this month to cut NHS waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks will make such a huge difference. With so many people waiting for treatment, it is more urgent than ever that we reform our NHS so it will always be there for you when you need it.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“This Government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.
“NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear. Lives on hold. Potential unfulfilled.
“This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.
“This is a key plank of our Plan for Change, which will drive growth that puts more money in people’s pockets, secures our borders and makes the NHS fit for the future so what working people live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives.”
