Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
At our evidence session the Department and NHSE&I appeared unwilling to make measurable commitments about...
Recommendation
At our evidence session the Department and NHSE&I appeared unwilling to make measurable commitments about what new funding for elective recovery would achieve in terms of additional NHS capacity and reduced patient waiting times. NHSE&I will receive an additional £8 billion for elective care recovery and £5.9 billion for capital between 2022–23 and 202425. Government expects that this additional funding will enable elective care activity to be 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels. However, the Department and NHSE&I have not set out in meaningful detail what the money will be spent on. NHSE&I is planning for 566 more elective care beds, but this appears to be a small number compared with the scale of the problem. Recommendation: In implementing its elective recovery plan, NHSE&I should set out clearly: • timeframes, costs and outputs of the components of the recovery plan covering elective care and cancer care to 2024–25; • the longer-term investments and plans that are being made now to improve the resilience of elective care and cancer care beyond 2024–25; and, • the national performance levels expected in each year between now and 2024–25.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2023 2.2 The government published the Elective Recovery Plan which set out the goals for tackling the elective care and cancer backlogs over the course of the next 3 years. These goals include that waits of longer than a year for elective care are eliminated by March 2025 (aside from specific specialties or due to patient choice) and that 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test receive it within six weeks by March 2025. On cancer, local systems have also been asked to return the number of people waiting more than 62 days from an urgent referral back to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. The plan is backed by a funding settlement including multi-year capital investment in diagnostics, elective capacity and technology. The investment in diagnostics, elective capacity and technology will all help improve resilience in the longer term. Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) will deliver additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity in England, providing patients with a coordinated set of diagnostic tests in the community in as few visits as possible, enabling an accurate and fast diagnosis on a range of a clinical pathways. NHSE will deliver up to 100 more community diagnostic centres across the country by 2025. Further detail on this will be set out as plans are finalised and approved, cross-government where appropriate. 2.3 In addition, the published NHS operational planning guidance gives further detail on the deployment of resource in support of these plans. The proposed update to the LTP and the subsequent NHS planning guidance for 2023-24 and 2024-25 will set out further detail when they are published.