Building an NHS fit for the future: delivering the mission

The new government takes office with clear priorities for action. Foremost among these is to “Build an NHS fit for the future” – one of Labour’s five missions for government. And the manifesto was clear that to help achieve this “Labour will use spare capacity in the independent sector to ensure patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly”.

Opinion polling showed this to be one of the most popular policies advocated by the new government – with nearly two-thirds of people (64%) in favour of using private sector capacity to tackle NHS waiting lists. Overall, a clear majority of people voted for parties that pledged to increase the role of independent providers in supporting the NHS.

To meet Labour’s commitment to once again hit  the NHS’ waiting target within 5 years and deliver 40K extra appointments a week, we need to move quickly. We are ambitious and positive about what can be done. Here’s what needs to happen to maximise the capacity and capability on offer from independent providers and get more NHS patients diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible.