IHPN responds to Government commitment to meet the NHS 18 week target

Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement of their Plan for Change, with a commitment to meet the NHS’ 18 week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament, David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said:

“With billions of pounds of extra funding for the NHS announced in the Chancellor’s recent Budget, it’s welcome to see a renewed commitment from the Prime Minister to cutting NHS waiting lists and meeting the 18 week performance target once again by the end of this Parliament – an issue consistently reported by the public as their number one priority for the health service.

“In order to meet this target once again, the Secretary of State is right that the NHS will need to “go hell for leather” and ensure all available capacity in the system in used, including in the independent sector.

“Independent providers have already removed more than one million NHS patients from the waiting list in 2024, however there is much more that can be done to ensure the sector is more effectively used for the benefit of NHS patients. This includes ensuring that all appointments made available by independent providers are utilised by the NHS, putting a stop to the current situation where every month tens of thousands of slots on the NHS’ e-referral system are not taken up, which could make a critical difference in making sure the 18 week target can be met once again.

“Routine elective care is of course not the only area where NHS patients are facing long waits and we therefore also want to see it made much easier for new healthcare providers to open and deliver new services to NHS patients, including diagnostic and community care where there is a desperate need for additional capacity across the country.”