The BBC reports that ministers want to unlock spare capacity to get more people the treatment and operations they need. This includes opening eight privately-run diagnostic centres and using new rules to make it easier for the NHS to purchase care in the private sector.
But health minister Maria Caulfield warned NHS waiting lists were likely to get worse before getting better. Speaking on LBC she said: “We are almost at the peak but we think it will go slightly higher, but it will then start to come down, and that is why we are making announcements like this now, so that we are getting that capacity and that infrastructure so that patients can get their treatments more quickly.
“But yes, we are being honest with people that the total number is likely to rise a little bit more before it starts to come down.”
The measures form part of a recently published “system-wide recovery plan” designed to tackle the growing backlog of people waiting for care.
Full story in the BBC, 6 August 2023
