Plans to clear the local backlog of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in South Yorkshire. 
Plans to clear the local backlog of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in South Yorkshire. 

Louise Haigh MP: MP welcomes Government plans to clear the local backlog of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in South Yorkshire. 

 

Patients in Sheffield Heeley will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster under the government’s plan to tackle hospital backlogs.

 

In North East and Yorkshire there are 1,007,305 on waiting lists at huge cost to their health.

 

Tackling the 7.5million strong waiting list inherited by the government so that the NHS once again meets the 18 week standard for planned treatment is a key milestone in the government’s Plan for Change. Restoring this standard will mean patients in Sheffield Heeley no longer have to have their lives put on hold. 

 

Currently, too many patients face long waits for appointments or surgeries and may be referred to hospitals they don’t choose at inconvenient times, while appointments and staff time are being lost to inefficiencies or inconsistencies in care.

 

The Government’s Elective Reform Plan, published this week by NHS England, sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. 

 

This includes opening Community Diagnostic Centres on evenings and weekends so that many more people will be able to access tests and checks while going about their daily lives, and the NHS will also increase the number of surgical hubs, which help protect planned care from the impact of seasonal and other pressures.

 

The plan will drive forward progress on the government’s first steps commitment to deliver 2 million extra appointments in its first year, equivalent to 40,000 every week. The reforms will put patients first, harness technology to support staff and help the NHS to do things more efficiently.

 

Under the plan, 65% of patients will be treated within 18 weeks by the end of next year. Based on the size of the current waiting list, that would mean a fall of more than 450k people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.

 

Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley, said:

 

“It is simply heartbreaking to know that hundreds of residents in Sheffield Heeley are stuck on the record long waiting lists inherited by the Government at huge cost to their health.

 

“The scale of the problem is shocking, with more than 70,000 patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment under the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. 

 

“I’ve seen first hand the human toll of being left on ever growing waiting lists. One constituent reached out to me for help, after being left waiting over six months for an urgent hip replacement. His pain was so severe he told me he had even contemplated taking his own life. 

 

“This is utterly unacceptable, stories like his show how urgent it is to fix this broken system.

 

“This is not just a local issue but a national crisis. That’s why the reforms announced this week to cut NHS waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks will make such a huge difference. With so many people waiting for treatment, it is more urgent than ever that we reform our NHS so it will always be there for you when you need it.”

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