Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Not Addressed
We also asked the Departments whether the evaluations would cover the schemes’ effects on groups...
Conclusion
We also asked the Departments whether the evaluations would cover the schemes’ effects on groups who were not eligible and groups that were supported, including those on furlough who took a second job.10 The Departments committed to looking at whether the evaluations could cover the groups of people not eligible and those furloughed who took second jobs. They did not say whether the final evaluation would cover those people who claimed support but were not-adversely affected.11
Government Response Summary
The government response is completely unrelated to the conclusion, and instead discusses cancer waiting times and NHS funding.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
1. PAC conclusion: Cancer waiting times are at their worst recorded level and NHS England (NHSE) will not meet its first cancer recovery target. 1. PAC recommendation: NHS England should be able to treat 85% of people with cancer within 62 days of an urgent GP referral and no one should ever have to wait more than 104 days for cancer treatment. It is unacceptable that 8,100 people waited over 104 days in the first five months of 2022–23. As a matter of urgency, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England should do whatever is required to bring cancer treatment back to an acceptable standard. 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 1.2 The Department of Health and Social Care (the department) and NHS England remain committed to reducing cancer waiting times. Since the publication of the Delivery Plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care, levels of GP urgent cancer referrals remain high – over 2.8 million people were seen in the 12 months to December 2022, and supported by the NHS’s ‘Help us Help You’ awareness campaigns. Despite this record demand, as at week ending 28 February 2023, the 62-day cancer backlog has fallen 35% since its peak in May 2020, and the department has seen early signs of a recovery in early-stage diagnosis. 1.3 NHS England set out clear plans and actions to reduce waiting times, including for cancer care, in the Delivery Plan. To support delivery, the department and NHS England have stood up further action in recent months. NHS England issued a letter to all NHS providers on 1 February 2023 on maximising 62 day backlog reductions. The four key areas highlighted to support reducing the cancer backlog – instructing the explicit prioritisation of Community Diagnostic Centre (CDCs) capacity for the cancer; implementing faecal immunochemical test (FIT) triage for patients on Urgent Suspected Cancer endoscopy waiting list; maximising use of wider local capacity including Independent Sector; and increased focus on data validation and accuracy. 1.4 Alongside these interventions, NHS England has developed an intervention model to target support towards the most challenged trusts in terms of cancer backlogs. This intensive support work includes developing a co-ordinated support plan monitored by progress meetings focussing on areas such as pathway improvements, workforce support and targeted capacity increases. 2. PAC conclusion: NHS England was over-optimistic about the circumstances in which the NHS would be trying to recover elective and cancer care. 2. PAC recommendation: NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care should revisit their planning assumptions for the recovery and publicly report any updates to targets so that patients and NHS staff can see a clear and realistic trajectory to achieve the 62-day cancer backlog target, the 52-week wait target for elective care, and, ultimately, the 18-week legal standard for elective care. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2024 2.2 The department and NHS England have stepped up actions to tackle the backlog since the publication of the Delivery Plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care. The ambitions in the delivery plan were agreed between NHS England and the government, based on detailed modelling and available funding at the time. The aim of setting stretching ambitions though to March 2025 was to ensure that patients, taxpayers and frontline staff had a shared and realistic expectation of progress towards recovering the backlog caused by the pandemic. The scope of the Delivery Plan’s targets reflected this aim. 2.3 Trajectories and planning assumptions for the commitments set out in the Delivery Plan are formally reviewed and revised annually through the operational planning process. In recognition of the additional pressures that the NHS is operating under since the publication of the plan, the government announced an additional £3.3 billion for the NHS in 2023-24 and 2024-25 in the 2022 Autumn Statement, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance. 2.4 The department and NHS England are committed to delivering the targets in the Delivery Plan and continue to work together to agree future ambitions. The NHS has delivered on the first of the ambitions, virtually eliminating long waits of over 104 weeks by July 2022 and is on track to virtually eliminate waits over 78 weeks, albeit the NHS is facing additional hurdles to delivery due to industrial action. 3. PAC conclusion: NHS funding has increased, but to deliver key priorities such as elective and cancer recovery it will need to be spent in the most cost-effective way. 3. PAC recommendation: NHSE should transparently describe how the additional funds for elective recovery have been allocated. Alongside the Treasury Minute response, it should also write to us providing details of the progra