The announcement of the long-awaited NHS Elective Recovery Plan for tackling the 6 million long patient backlog sets a decisive challenge for those in charge of not only furthering the restoration of planned elective services but accessing the necessary capacity required to improve on the March 2020 position.
Although the NHS has mounted an impressive response across the country, another round of targets to improve access, reduce waiting times, provide extra capital, and improve data flows has presented further challenges to local hospitals with the Government simply asking the NHS to ‘go even further’ and ‘do even more’.
In fact, The British Medical Association estimates that - between April 2020 and October 2021 - there were over 4 million fewer elective procedures than expected and over 28 and a half million fewer outpatient attendances. No wonder 84% of people think waiting times for routine services have worsened over the last 12 months.
The Elective Recovery Plan explicitly states how commissioners should make “effective use of independent sector capacity”, “build on the existing patient rights to choice”, develop “partnerships with the independent sector that support long-term contracting” and “design a joint approach with the independent sector on workforce”.
At Medinet we support a significant number of hospitals, helping them see and treat well over 100,000 additional patients in the last 12 months in over 22 different specialities. We have done this by making better use of their facilities in periods of downtime, conducting the extra procedures necessary and adding outpatient clinics needed using expert, consultant led, clinical teams.
With capacity to go further, Medinet, is determined to help, as an NHS partner, eradicate NHS elective waiting times for every single patient so no-one has to wait longer than they should. We will empower patient choice by giving patients the option of receiving care out of hours (which 9 out of 10 would actively choose) and help remove the possibility of patients needlessly re-presenting elsewhere in the system.
That is why Medinet is releasing its “manifesto” for the year ahead to telegraph how we are going to support the NHS to collaborate and eliminate waiting times, one patient at a time through the provision of the most appropriate clinical teams matched to their needs. Ultimately, we want to help patients get better, quicker.
The Medinet Manifesto
We see the pressure building on patient waiting lists and on NHS staff. Medinet will provide access to the UK’s largest pool of expert clinicians to ease that pressure, delivering care to those who need it, faster.
Every trust is unique and so are their needs. We recognise that through a collaborative approach, designing consultant-led solutions to deliver the exact blend of support required to overcome the most complex challenges.
The need is national and so are we. We provide full coverage in more than 20 specialist areas, ensuring highly skilled experts are deployed no matter where, no matter when.
We uphold the highest standards of the NHS, securing patient safety with a robust Governance Framework that sits at the foundation of every specialism we offer.
We build change that lasts. We collaborate to eliminate patient waiting times sustainably by working to existing patient pathways and finding the most effective and efficient solutions to support every trust. That includes supplying specialists and subspecialists flexibly for as long as they are needed, keeping trusts within target and maintaining patient satisfaction scores above the NHS average.
Budgets drive decisions, so we set fees consistently below tariff, making us reliably accessible. Always.
We see the people behind the statistics and the targets. Our teams will ease the workload for clinicians, consultants, and nursing staff, reducing stress, and improving their working environment.
Together we can help millions of people get the care they need and end the great wait across the nation. We are Medinet. We are the National Help Service.
