The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold an evidence session
on reducing NHS waiting times for planned non-emergency, or
elective, care at 10am on Thursday 11th
September. This session follows a recent report from the
National Audit Office (NAO) on the same topic.
It has been 10 years since the standard wait time for patients to
begin treatment within 18 weeks from referral on 92% of treatment
pathways was achieved. In 2022, NHS England (NHSE) began working
to reduce wait times by increasing capacity and prioritising
patients who had been waiting for over a year.
Following March's announcement that NHSE would be abolished
within two years, the PAC is likely to question witnesses on the
progress of the reorganisation required for the DHSC to deliver
responsibilities currently under NHSE's remit. Evidence will be
sought on what DHSC will do differently and better in the future
to bring down waiting times.
The NAO's report found that despite some success in building new
community diagnostic centres on time, patients' wait times remain
significantly above target levels and capacity for outpatient
services remains stretched. Waits of more than six weeks for
diagnostic tests remain significantly off-target, and NHSE has
struggled to deliver improvements for outpatient services. Delays
were also seen in the construction of new surgical hubs, with
around half of the planned 37 new hubs complete as of December
2024.
Witnesses
From 10am:
- Samantha Jones, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and
Social Care (DHSC)
- Matt Style, Director General, Secondary Care and Integration,
DHSC
- Sir Jim Mackey, Interim Chief Executive, NHS England (NHSE)
- Mark Cubbon, Director, Elective Care, Cancer and Diagnostics,
NHSE
- Professor Meghana Pandit, Co-Medical Director (Secondary
Care), NHSE
