Millions of extra appointments, high street state of the art diagnostic centres, non-stop surgical hubs and an effective NHS app giving patients a “shopper’s experience”.
This is Sir Keir Starmer’s elective reform plan. It reads more like a revolution.
And that’s why questions are being asked about how achievable the government’s NHS plans actually are, especially given the self-imposed deadline of making sure 92% of patients are seen within 18 weeks, before the next election in 2029.
Community diagnostic centres will be open for 12 hours, seven days a week, significantly reducing the number of people waiting for a test or diagnosis. It’s currently around 1.6 million people.
By having these centres on high streets, away from crumbling NHS estates, patient access is made much easier, but these premises have to be found and adapted within existing buildings and not built from scratch.
That’s a challenge, but the greatest obstacle for the government is the workforce – extra trained staff can’t be magicked up, the workforce plan will take years to deliver the staff the NHS needs.
The goodwill is there – all NHS staff want patients to get timely treatment – but there’s a limit to how much they can do.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting says he’s aware of staffing issues but that can’t get in the way of reform. The NHS will need to work more “efficiently”, according to him.
Everybody – patients and staff – will be hoping the government does meet its elective target – then it can turn its attention to the rest of the health service that desperately needs help.
