The government is to set out a plan to bring the NHS “into the 21st century”, health secretary Wes Streeting said today.
In a bid to reduce waiting times and improve quality of care for patients, Streeting said a “heavy emphasis on reform, not just investment” is needed to overcome the health service’s “existential” challenge.
Speaking to Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, Streeting warned the NHS could “go the way of Woolies”, but said the government’s plan would ensure the service does not collapse like high street retail chain Woolworths.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the health secretary said that after “14 years of failure” under the previous Tory government, “it’s going to take time to turn the NHS around”.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil the elective reform plan on Monday, which aims to reduce waiting times for 92% of NHS patients from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament in 2029.
So, what reform is the Labour government planning for the NHS, and what has the reaction been so far? Here, Yahoo News explains what we know.
Upgrades to the NHS App
The NHS app will be overhauled to give patients more choice under the elective reform plan.
Streeting said the move will shift the NHS “into the digital age”, adding that using the health service “should be as easy and convenient as ordering a takeaway or doing your online banking”.
Currently, the NHS app can be used for the likes of booking and managing appointments, viewing health records and ordering repeat prescriptions.
The upgraded platform will allow patients who need non-emergency elective treatment to choose from a range of providers, including those in the private sector.
Users will also be able to view and manage appointments, book tests and checks at convenient locations such as community diagnostic centres, receive test results, and book any necessary follow-up appointments, such as remote consultations or surgery.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), fewer than a quarter of patients are offered a choice of hospital to have treatment.
An upgrade to the NHS app is part of the government’s plans to bring the health service into the ‘digital age’. (Alamy)
“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,” Streeting said.
“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.”
The first step of the plan will come into force in March, when patients at more than 85% of acute trusts will be able to view their appointments on the NHS app. They will also be able to contact their healthcare provider and receive regular updates, including how long they are likely to wait.
Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, said that while the app upgrade “may help some patients navigate disjointed and complex pathways of care”, it “won’t make serious inroads into waiting lists” without significant improvements elsewhere in the healthcare system.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said that while more patient choice is a “good thing” the app improvements must not come at the expense of excluding those without a smartphone.
Cash incentives for GPs to help cut waiting lists
Financial incentives for GPs to consult with specialists to discuss alternatives to sending patients to hospital for treatment are also understood to be a part of Labour’s reform plans.
According to the Observer, doctors will be offered £20 each time they consult a specialist, either by email or over the phone, under the so-called advice and guidance (A&G) scheme.
Government officials say that too often, GPs are referring patients to hospital outpatient departments when they could receive treatment from community healthcare services instead, the newspaper reports.
“Shifting care from hospital to the community is one of the three big shifts we will implement to reform the NHS,” Streeting said on Saturday evening.
Examples of when a patient might be offered alternative community care could include ear, nose and throat issues, many of which can be treated outside of a hospital setting.
Action to tackle missed appointments
With an estimated eight million appointments missed in 2023-24, officials are working on measures to tackle this costly issue faced by the NHS.
Improving two-way communication between patients and clinicians, as well as using artificial intelligence (AI), could save an additional one million missed appointments, the DHSC estimates.
Work is under way to pilot AI services that pinpoint patients who are likely to miss an appointment so that extra support, such as free transport, can be offered.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil the reform plan on Monday. (Getty Images)
Streeting added: “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.”
The health secretary told the BBC that reminders could be sent by hospitals in a bid to reduce appointments, adding: “You book a table in a restaurant these days – or even an appointment at the hairdresser – you’ll get a text message 24 or 48 hours in advance to remind you. Why doesn’t the NHS do this?”
However, this doesn’t appear to be a new development, with NHS trusts already offering text reminder services.
Patients will also be offered support to ensure they are as fit and prepared as possible for treatment while awaiting operations, not only to boost post-op results and recovery, but also to reduce on-the-day cancellations. This will include support to lose weight and stop smoking.
Faster diagnosis for patients with certain symptoms
Hundreds of thousands of patients will be able to get directly referred and booked in for tests, checks and scans by their GP for a range of conditions under the government’s new plans.
People with conditions such as breathlessness, asthma in children and young people, and post-menopausal bleeding will no longer need to see a consultant first, NHS England says.
The health service says millions of people will receive quicker diagnosis and treatment under upgraded and more streamlined services, and more thousands more people receiving same day service – with a follow up consultation on the same day as their diagnostic test or scan.
This acceleration of diagnosis times will come alongside a “major expansion of ring-fenced elective capacity in both hospitals and the community”, the NHS says, ensuring routine care is “protected from winter pressures and future pandemics”.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said that under the current system, “consultants are forced to tick boxes rather than treat patients”, adding that she hopes the reforms will “speed up diagnoses and free up NHS staff”.
What state is the NHS currently in?
Figures published by NHS England in December showed an estimated 7.54 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October.
This was down from 7.57 million at the end of September and the lowest figure since March 2024, but still falls far short of the government’s targets.
Figures from the BMA, published in December, show that a target set in February 2022 to eliminate waiting lists longer than 65 weeks by March 2024 has been missed.
“The longer-running target that 92% of patients should receive treatment within 18 weeks of referral has not been met since September 2015.”
The BMA says that in October 2024, the waiting list stood at around 7.5 million, consisting of approximately 6.3 million individual patients waiting for treatment, but this only tells part of the story.
It says the referral to treatment waiting list does not include waiting for non-consultant-led treatment, or patients waiting for follow up appointments once they have begun treatment.
Waiting lists have been stubbornly high since the COVID-19 pandemic. (BMA)
Furthermore, the association says the “hidden backlog”, which includes patients who require care but have not yet presented to healthcare providers is also growing, meaning the headline figures do not show the full extent of the overall backlog.
Of the 7.5 million on the official waiting list, 3.1 million have been waiting over 18 weeks, while almost 234,900 have been waiting over a year for treatment, according to the BMA.
The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on the NHS, it adds, with the median waiting time nearly doubling from 7.6 weeks in October 2019 to 14.2 weeks in October 2024.
Meanwhile cancer targets continue to be missed, with the percentage of people receiving their first cancer treatment within one month from a decision to treat standing at 91.5% in October 2024 – below the 96% target.
Around 68.2% received their first treatment within two months, which is significantly below the operational standard of 85%. However, the percentage of patients told they have cancer within four weeks of an urgent referral stood at 77.1%, which is above the target of 75%.
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