IHPN responds to Labour Party Manifesto

Responding to the publication of the Labour Party’s election manifesto, David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said:

“With the latest NHS performance figures showing waiting lists are continuing to rise, it’s welcome to see there is now a clear cross-party commitment to making greater use of the independent sector to cut the NHS backlog.

“YouGov polling this week found that using independent sector capacity to tackle NHS waiting lists was one of the most popular policies put forward by any party in the run up to the election. This is unsurprising given that in the last year alone activity by the sector removed more than 1.5 million people from the NHS waiting list, with almost one in five NHS operations now delivered by independent providers.

“Given the scale of the challenge, the task for the next Government will be to turn these welcome words into action, including through fully ensuring patients are aware of their “right to choose” where they receive their NHS treatment which will make a real contribution to cutting the waiting list and help ensure patients can get the care they need.”