The government announced that 37,000 people who were off work due to long-term illness had been successfully removed from NHS waiting list and assisted back into work as a result of a trial testing various targeted interventions.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s pilot program has focused on combating ill-health related worklessness in twenty locations across the country.
The data from October 2024 through January 2025 revealed that waiting lists in these 20 areas were reduced, on average, at a rate more than twice as fast as the rest of country. The waiting lists fell by 130% in areas where government schemes were in place compared to the national average.
The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust have both set up a number of “super clinics”. The clinics have allowed 100 patients to be seen each day, and, when appropriate, referred to employment advisors to address any barriers to returning to work.
Those who are waiting for elective surgeries have been placed on a ‘high-flow theatre’ list, including the Trafford Elective Surgery Hub.
Warrington & Halton NHS Foundation Trust has run similar’super clinics,’ for gynaecology, with a focus, again, on providing models that provide one-stop shopping and reduce the need for subsequent appointments.
East Lancashire Hospitals Trust has focused on improving diagnostic pathways and expanding capacity for heart scans, also known as echocardiography.
The DHSC stated that this initiative had reduced the wait list from 2,700 to 700 patients. All patients would receive their scans within six weeks.
The DHSC said that due to the initial success, similar initiatives would be rolled out this year to other providers to boost.
Wes Streeting, the Health and Social Care Secretary said: “By sending doctors to support hospitals in areas with high economic inactivity we get sick Brits to health and to work again.
We have to get more from the NHS than we give. We can cut waiting lists by half by bringing the best of NHS to other NHS areas and reforming how surgeries are run. This is done at no additional cost to taxpayers.
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