Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Committee gathered evidence on NHS England's elective care waiting time programmes
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Health and Social Care (the Department) and from NHS England (NHSE) regarding NHSE’s management of transformation programmes to reduce elective care waiting times.1
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's introductory statement and details actions already implemented or underway, such as publishing waiting list information disaggregated by demographic data since July 2025, expecting systems to analyze and mitigate inequalities, and implementing processes to manage long waits and ensure patient safety.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The Elective Reform Plan (ERP) set out several commitments aimed at tackling health disparities in access to and waiting time for elective care, including the publication of waiting list information disaggregated by demographic information, improving use of transport, accessible and alternative language templates, prioritisation tools. In July 2025, NHS England published waiting list information broken down by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation for the first time, updated monthly. This means waiting list information can be used nationally and locally to identify and address disparities in waits between groups of patients. The ERP reiterated the importance of every locality and service provider examining waiting list information, as health inequalities vary geographically. Systems and providers are expected to routinely analyse waiting list information alongside local data, and report on identified inequalities and actions to mitigate these within board level reporting. NHS England has implemented comprehensive actions to manage risks associated with long waits including where trusts are materially off track, targeted management interventions, building on the successful cohort management approach. To maintain accurate waiting lists and identify patients at risk of harm, trusts are expected to review and validate patients waiting over 12 weeks at least every three months. NHS England has also carried out validation sprints throughout 2025-26, ensuring consistency and quality in data management. NHS England have introduced a tiering system for trusts with sizeable long-waits. This ensures that support is proportionate to need and prioritised for challenged providers. All providers have harm review processes to ensure patient safety, including systematic reviews for long waits, with escalation routes where clinical risk is identified.