The NHS has this week launched a major drive to reduce hundreds of thousands of missed hospital appointments every month, to help boost the recovery of elective services. As part of the biggest and most ambitious catch-up programme in NHS history, hospitals have been asked to ensure they are sending timely appointment reminders, improving processes […]

The NHS waiting list has fallen for the first time since the start of the pandemic while hospitals dealt with the highest ever number of A&E attendances last month, new figures show today. Thanks to the efforts of staff, elective care was delivered for 70,000 more patients in November compared to the same month before […]

The NHS has slashed the number of people waiting 18 months for treatment by almost 60% in one year as the health service continues to prioritise the elective recovery. The number of patients waiting 78 weeks was reduced by 73,430 from 123,969 compared to September 2021 as staff clamp down on the longest waits. It […]

The number of patients waiting for tests and checks has fallen for the third month in a row – and is at the lowest level since the NHS launched its elective recovery plan, the biggest, most ambitious catch up programme in health history. New figures today show that there were 1,521,711 patients waiting for diagnostic […]

NHS staff were today praised for virtually eliminating the longest waits for scans, checks, surgical procedures and other routine treatment, the first milestone in the most ambitious catch-up plan in health service history. The NHS Elective Recovery Plan, published earlier this year, set out how the health service would address the backlogs that have inevitably […]

Patients are being offered faster treatment in different parts of the country as part of an NHS ‘final push’ to virtually eliminate the number waiting two years or more. The NHS Elective Recovery Plan, published earlier this year, set out how the health service would address COVID-19 backlogs in treatment, initially focusing on the longest […]

NHS ‘one stop shops’ have delivered over one million checks and tests since the rollout began, as the biggest catch up programme in health history gathers pace. Over 90 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are already freeing up hospital capacity by offering MRI, CT and other services closer to patients’ homes, often in the heart of […]

The NHS performed a record number of diagnostic tests for March while continuing to bring down the number of longest waiters for elective treatment, as part of the most ambitious catch up plan in NHS history, new figures show. The latest monthly performance data, published today, show more than two million diagnostic tests were carried […]

Hundreds of people have been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier through NHS mobile trucks, as part of the biggest programme to improve early lung cancer diagnosis in health service history. Thanks to NHS teams who are making it even easier for people to get a Lung MOT in travelling trucks visiting different areas across the […]

The NHS and government have today set out a blueprint to address backlogs built up during the COVID pandemic and tackle long waits for care with a massive expansion in capacity for tests, checks and treatments. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard and Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid announced that the health service will […]