The government has unveiled a new pledge to cut the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in England by almost half a million over the next year.
The plan, to be announced Monday, will expand access to community diagnostic centers and surgical hubs, along with reforms designed to increase patient choice and address inefficiencies.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would create millions more jobs and “deliver on our promise to end backlogs”.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has welcomed the plan but expressed doubts about whether it could be delivered.
The government has hailed the project as a major milestone in a broader effort to reduce the number of people waiting long for appointments, procedures and surgeries.
Sir Keir added: “Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff are once again able to deliver the quality of care they so desperately want.”
A key Labor election pledge, now among the government’s top six priorities, is to have 92% of patients on treatment or in full remission within 18 weeks by the end of this parliament.
This has been an official NHS target for some time, but has not been met since 2015. Currently, only 59% of patients meet the 18-week target, while three million people are waiting longer.
The latest pledge is to reach 65 percent by March 2026, which would reduce the backlog by more than 450,000, according to the government.
A network of community assessment centres, which provide appointments such as scans and endoscopies in local neighbourhoods, will extend their opening hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
It aims to treat patients faster, closer to home and without relying on hospitals. Officials say these centers will provide up to half a million additional appointments each year.
GPs will also, where appropriate, be able to refer patients directly to these centers without the need for prior consultation with a senior doctor.
More surgical centers will be created to focus on common, less complex procedures, such as cataract surgery and some orthopedic work. These centers are bell-fenced from other parts of the hospital to ensure that operating theater time is not lost when an emergency occurs.
The new plan says one million unnecessary appointments a year will be freed up for patients who need them. This will be possible by eliminating automated post-treatment review appointments and offering them only to patients who request them.
Officials say the additional appointments will be in addition to what Labor promised before the election. The commitment was for 40,000 more appointments per week within the first year or 2 million per year.
That compares with more than 100 million appointments annually. Ministers have confirmed that work on the pledge has begun immediately after the elections.
Advice for patients to use an NHS app to monitor advice and test results, with more control over where they are treated, has already been announced. The aim is to make the system more efficient and reduce the number of missed appointments.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: “The fundamental reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments and operations, but also do things differently – increasing convenience and patient outcomes. Putting more power in the hands, especially through the NHS app.”
The overall waiting list for NHS appointments, procedures and surgeries in England is just under 7.5 million.
No target level has been set in the plan, but ministers say waiting lists will inevitably fall as measures to meet the 18-week benchmark are put in place.
Funding for NHS England is set for next year, but the extra money needed to support extra activity in hospitals will be outlined in the government’s spending review later this year.
Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, expressed doubt whether the plan could be delivered.
He said doctors, like their patients, have become frustrated with the lack of facilities to provide care and want to bring down the waiting lists.
“But the reality is that without the workforce to meet the ever-increasing demand, we won’t see the progress we all hope for.”
Ed Arger, the shadow health and social care secretary, said it was the Conservatives who “revolutionised” the diagnostic process by launching 160 community diagnostic centres.
He said the government’s plan was “another announcement that, after 14 years in opposition, Labor has no new ideas for the NHS despite promising change”.
“Patients cannot wait for more fuss and delay from a government that promised so much, and so far has delivered so little,” he said.
Liberal Democrat MP and health spokeswoman Helen Morgan said plans for waiting lists could risk “heart-attack hip replacements” unless emergency and social care “crises” are addressed. .