LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine)- A proposal to address the backlog of patients on waiting lists of hospitals has been put on hold by the government of England.
The NHS England scheme’s details were supposed to be released on Monday, but that has been postponed following claims of a last-minute Whitehall intervention.
However, the government has established a new online service that will provide information on waiting periods for patients who require non-urgent surgery.
It’s possible that the whole plan will be released later this week.
According to BBC political analyst Chris Mason, there appears to be a cost difference between the Treasury and the rest of the administration.
The Treasury has not responded to accusations in the Daily Telegraph that it wanted the publication delayed.
In November, six million people- a record were on non-urgent waiting lists in England, with the suspension of regular surgery at times of the epidemic adding to demands that were already high before it started.
What has been revealed is the launch of an online portal called My Planned Care later this month, which will provide patients waiting for regular surgery with more transparency about their local hospitals and information they may require while preparing for their procedures.
To ensure that people are healthy for surgery, there will also be guidance on prevention programmes, like how to quit smoking and fitness routines.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care, a third of on-the-day cancellations were because of patients not being clinically ready for treatment.
The platform will be accessible via the NHS website at first, but in the future it is planned to be made available via the NHS app.
The My Planned Care platform, coupled with financing, will help “provide access to life-changing support and care for people irrespective of who they are or where they reside, according to Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
At the peak of the epidemic, the NHS was correctly focused on treating Covid-19 patients, but tragically, this has resulted in longer waiting lists – and the Covid backlog would continue to grow, he said.
Staff will have to be working flat out to face the challenges created by long delays, according to chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, the organisation which represents health institutions.
According to him, the platform was created for improving information for the patients before their treatment and reducing cancellations.
The full specifics of this strategy, which trust leaders helped build and will be released soon, will be a watershed moment for the NHS, he said.
Trusts will do all necessary to ensure that the plan is delivered and that their backlogs are cleared as rapidly as possible, he added.
