11 Mar Recent reduction in NHS waiting lists is disappointing, says Health Secretary
HEALTH Secretary Victoria Atkins has admitted that a recent reduction in the number of people waiting for NHS treatment is a drop in the ocean and blamed industrial action for a lack of progress.
She told GB News: “We have already seen in the last three months, we have seen waiting lists decrease and that is despite industrial action. So, huge amount of energy. Between November to January, it’s about 150-160,000. We’ve got the cumulative figures.”
Asked by Camilla Tominey if that was a drop in the ocean, compared to the overall figure of 8 million, she said: “Yeah, and you are right, absolutely right to focus on this. We have had industrial action, we know that’s had an impact.
“For the 12 months from December last year, we saw some 1.4 million appointments cancelled. There will be listeners and viewers at home watching this who have had their own appointments cancelled. But despite that we’ve been able to make some progress.
“I am determined that we go further than this. And this is why the investment that we heard at the Budget is so significant, because not only will we keep the foot on the accelerator when it comes to those waiting lists, but also I want to help clinicians spend more time looking at patients, as I say, they’re looking at computer screens.
“We know from looking around the world that some of these computer systems, they can help free up to a quarter of a clinician’s time in a single appointment. I mean, that’s how we’re going to improve productivity the NHS.”
On the £3.4 billion NHS productivity plan announced in the Budget, she said: “We’re spending record amounts on the NHS, we have more doctors and nurses than ever before. That is fantastic news, but we also know that in the ten years between 2010 and 2020, the productivity rate of the NHS was higher than it is today.
“We had a very difficult time during the pandemic and it is taking time to recover from the pandemic which is why, for example, we have fully funded recovery plans for emergency services for elective operations and so on and for primary care.
“But we want to go further and this productivity plan, that is fully funded by the way, means that we will be using technology and AI to not only improve the working lives of doctors and nurses, so they’re spending more time with patients than they are with paperwork, but also critically getting, using state of the art scanners and other technology to make sure that when patients go in for their diagnosis, they are getting the best and the quickest service they possibly can.”
Asked about anti-Semitism in healthcare, she said: “What I can tell your audience is that some months ago, I wrote to both NHS England and to the regulators across health care to underline our expectation that their members and staff working in the NHS will adhere to the values of the NHS and that any incidents of language or views that do not sit in accordance with those views that they will be challenged and dealt with.”
