𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour is pumping billions of pounds into the NHS to bring down waiting lists but key targets have been missed and the Government risks repeating the mistakes of HS2, a major report warns. NHS England has spent more than £3.2billion with the goal of transforming diagnostic and surgical services in the pandemic-battered health service but at the start of the year over six million people were waiting for elective care.

Nearly 192,000 people were waiting more than a year for care by July. The Public Accounts Committee found billions of pounds in spending was approved by the Government without sufficient focus on the difference the cash would make for patients.

The report warns: “Unless it gets a grip on the programmes, there is a serious risk that it will not meet its target for 92% of the waiting list to be treated within 18 weeks by 2029.”

It takes the Government to task for “announcing major reforms without either delivery plans or secured funding,” warning that “poor practices” seen in the High Speed 2 rail project “are being replicated here and will lead to wasted effort”.

The authors are concerned that digital technology is seen as a “cure-all” for the health service. They say they are “not confident that the department is being realistic about the immense effort needed to reduce NHS elective care waiting times”.

Clive Betts, the deputy chairman of the committee, said: “Every unnecessary day that a patient spends on an NHS waiting list is both one of increased anxiety for that person’s unresolved case and, if they are undiagnosed, a steady increasing of risk to their life. Every penny of funding spent to put the NHS back on a pre-pandemic footing must be precisely targeted, or the system itself becomes an obstacle to proper care.”

He cautioned that “billions have been poured into the system over the past few years without the requisite focus on making sure that money does what it was intended for”.

Warning of “chilling echoes of past failures on HS2, he said: “Our committee has long established that large unfunded commitments, without plans for delivery, while good at generating headlines, can only end one way.” 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This Government inherited a broken NHS, with waiting lists soaring and elective services in dire need of modernisation. This report focuses on the previous government, and we have taken immediate and robust action to tackle waiting lists and modernise elective care.

“For the first time in 15 years waiting lists are falling. Through record investment and modernisation, we’ve cut backlogs by more than 230,000 and smashed our target for additional appointments, delivering more than five million extra.

“Health service productivity is up 2.7% on last year – and just last week, we pressed ahead with halving the headcount of NHSE and DHSC, saving billions to reinvest into the frontline and patient care.

“We’re delivering the change the NHS is crying out for – while slashing wasteful spending to ensure maximum value for taxpayers.”