Your phone could cut through NHS waiting list nightmare

WORKING class patients should have the same freedom enjoyed by wealthy people who can afford to go private to choose when and where they will be treated, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has declared.

Plans to give “power to the patient” and slash NHS waiting lists by harnessing the potential of smartphones have been unveiled.

A beefed-up “NHS app” will allow patients to choose providers, book a wider range of appointments and receive test results.

The proposals are at the heart of Mr Streeting’s goal to cut waiting times to 18 weeks. His “elective reform plan” will set out the minimum standards patients should expect while they wait for care.

He wants to change the NHS from a “like it or lump it” service into one where patients have much more control and are treated on time.

Today, fewer than one in four patients say they were offered a choice of hospital. But under plans for a “revolutionised” app, patients requiring non-emergency care will gain new freedoms to view and manage appointments so they are at a time and place convenient to them.

It is hoped this will help tackle the scourge of missed appointments – with eight million missed in 2023-24.

Patients will also be able to use providers in the private sector. Tests will be carried out at “community diagnostic centres” – some of which will be in shopping centres.

It is hoped measures to improve communication between patients and clinicians, including making better use of Artificial Intelligence, could prevent one million missed appointments.

The Department for Health boasts the plan “marks the start of a new era for the health service that will put patients in the driving seat and in control of their own care.

Health Secretary Mr Streeting said: “If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working class patients should be able to as well, and this government will give them that choice. Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcare.

“This Government’s reform agenda will take the NHS from a one size fits all, top down, ‘like it or lump it’ service, to a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat and treats them on time – delivering on our Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal.

“By bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age, we will cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks and give working class patients the same choice, control, and convenience as the wealthy receive.”

Today, just eight per cent of bookings after a referral are made via the NHS app or the “manage your referral” website.

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of the NHS, said: “NHS staff are providing record levels of elective care but with too many patients waiting, we know we need to reform further and faster so we can take our progress on the backlog to the next level. That is why as part of the Elective Reform Plan we will fully harness the potential of the NHS app, giving patients more information, choice and control over their care while freeing up the time of our staff so they can work more productively too.

“Using technology to revolutionise access to NHS care, alongside offering more availability of tests, check and scans closer to people’s homes will help us tackle waiting times and put patients in the driving seat of elective care.”

By March this year, patients at more than 85 per cent of acute trusts should be able to view their appointment information using the app.

At present, most patients receive test results through a phone call from a clinician or via a letter. “Significant” time can then pass before they have an appointment to discuss the information, and the app is intended to tackle such “inefficiencies”.

Artificial Intelligence will be used to identify patients more likely to miss appointments. Under pilot initiatives, those most in need will be given support such as free transport.

Tim Gardner of the Health Foundation welcomed the plan but said “we should be under no illusions about just how stretching the targets are”.

“The aim for 92 per cent of patients to receive hospital treatment within 18 weeks of a referral by the end of this parliament is highly ambitious and hasn’t been met for nearly a decade,” he said.

Stressing the importance of bringing down the waiting time for treatment, he said: “With a waiting list of 7.5 million and nearly 235,000 waits of over a year, there are too many patients waiting in pain, many with their conditions worsening over time.”