Rishi Sunak will pledge to invest £6bn in tackling NHS waiting lists across England and improving the use of digital technology in hospitals in the budget this week.
The chancellor is set to announce £5.9bn in Wednesday’s statement to reduce the backlog of non-emergency tests and procedures, with support for at least 100 ‘one-stop-shop’ community diagnostic centres to assist those waiting for clinical tests such as MRIs, ultrasounds and CT scans.
Efficiency and security in the frontline NHS will also be enhanced by a £2.1bn investment to modernise digital technology and free up valuable NHS staff time, the Treasury says.
Millions of patients waiting for diagnostic tests and non-emergency operations will benefit from the £6bn injection, Mr Sunak will tell MPs.
It comes as it was revealed that nearly six million people in England are waiting to start routine hospital treatment – a record high.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned that “business as usual won’t be enough”.
The latest NHS England figures, published earlier this month, show that a total of 5.7 million people were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of August – the highest figure since records began in August 2007.
Of those, some 9,754 people had been waiting more than two years to begin hospital treatment, more than three times the 2,722 people who were waiting longer than two years in April.
Among them are people awaiting hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery.
Rishi Sunak says the investment will be ‘game-changing’ for patient care
NHS England has told hospitals to eliminate all waits of more than two years by March 2022.
On Wednesday, Mr Sunak will set out funding that will support the aim of delivering around 30% more…
Source : skynews
