Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
In July 2022, the Chief Executive of the NHS, wrote to all Chief Executives of...
Recommendation
In July 2022, the Chief Executive of the NHS, wrote to all Chief Executives of NHS trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and Integrated Care Boards stating that the 62-day cancer backlog target should be a critical priority for the remainder of the year.13 This instruction has not led to the results NHSE hoped for. In our session NHSE had to acknowledge that it no longer expected to meet the target by March 2023.14 Over-optimism in recovery assumptions
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to revisit planning assumptions for recovery and publicly report any updates to targets for the 62-day cancer backlog, the 52-week wait target, and the 18-week legal standard, with implementation by Spring 2024. They also announced an additional £3.3 billion for the NHS.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
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.