Deal between NHS and independent sector to cut NHS waiting lists
Source: gov.uk (2025-01-06)

New agreement struck between NHS and independent sector to help tackle waiting lists and give patients greater choice.

- Specialist areas of treatment to be targeted, including women on gynaecological waiting lists and record numbers of orthopaedics patients
- Agreement will also benefit patients in deprived areas of the country, enabling a greater choice of providers
A new agreement has been struck with the independent sector as part of plans to end the hospital waiting list backlog set out by the Prime Minister today (6 January 2025).

Hitting the 18-week NHS waiting time standard for operations and other planned procedures is a key part of the government’s Plan for Change (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-change).

The new deal will mean the NHS makes better use of the independent sector to tackle waiting lists as well as providing millions more appointments itself.

The NHS and independent sector partnership agreement will help expand capacity and widen patient choice by setting out how more treatments can be delivered through the independent sector, with care remaining free at the point of use.

The independent healthcare sector estimate that they have capacity to provide an additional one million appointments a year for NHS patients.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

Mission-led government is about doing things differently. When the waiting lists have ballooned to 7.5 million, we will not let ideology or old ways of doing things stand in the way of getting people’s lives back on track.

As we deliver our Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS, it would be a dereliction of duty not to use every available resource to get patients the care they so desperately need.

That’s why this agreement will make sure working people get greater choice over when and where they receive their treatment, and provide more support to the areas in greatest need.

The new deal will set out how independent sector capacity can be used to tackle some of the longest waits in specialist areas of treatment, such as gynaecology, where there is a backlog of 260,000 women waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.

Orthopaedics will also be a key focus, where over 40% of patients are waiting longer than the 18-week target.

The agreement will also give patients in more deprived areas, where NHS provision is more limited, a greater choice over where they are treated.

Currently, less than a quarter of patients recall being offered a choice of hospital for their treatment. The government wants all NHS patients to have the opportunity to choose who cares for them, and through the wider elective reform plans set out today will give them more control over their own care.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said:

Millions of patients are being forced to wait unacceptably long for treatment, failed by 14 years of neglect of the NHS. This government will pull every lever available to get patients treated on time again.

I’m not going to allow working people to wait longer than is necessary, when we can get them treated sooner in a private hospital, paid for by the NHS. If the wealthy can be treated on time, then so should NHS patients.

This new agreement will help to cut waiting time faster in parts of the country where the need is greatest, and in gynaecological care where women are left waiting far too long.

The steps we have already taken in the first 6 months have seen waiting lists begin to fall. The investment and reform we are now making will ensure we deliver on the Plan for Change and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.

The partnership is key to the government’s plans to meet the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients in England will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. The standard has not been consistently met since 2015.

As part of the new agreement, NHS England and the independent sector will:
- work on aligning NHS and independent sector digital systems around a national set of standards so patients can more easily see appointments and results on the NHS App
- encourage longer-term contractual relationships to be established, enabling further independent sector investment in NHS capacity
- work together to grow and develop the elective workforce, including ensuring training occurs consistently in the independent sector
Delivery of extra elective care by the NHS has already been ramping up as the government aims to provide an extra 2 million appointments, scans and operations in its first year to get patients seen more quickly.

And a renewed relationship with the independent sector will help provide patients with a greater choice of providers for tests or scans, paid for by the NHS, so it remains free at the point of use.

The agreement has been published alongside the government and NHS’s elective reform plan (https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/), which sets out a roadmap to meeting the 18-week standard this Parliament.

NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, said:

The independent sector is playing a vital role in supporting hospitals to get on top of the backlog, delivering more than 100,000 elective appointment and procedures every week for the NHS - up by more than half since 2021.

But we are under no illusions that we must go further and faster if we want to get the waiting list down to levels last seen in 2015.

This new agreement will enable the NHS to make better use of capacity within the private sector where it is needed most, and help us see more patients, free at the point of use.

David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said:

This new agreement is a clear statement from government, the NHS and independent sector that independent providers are a critical part of the NHS’s long-term recovery and renewal.

Independent providers already treat millions of NHS patients every year, and this agreement builds on these strong foundations by making full use of existing capacity in the sector, ensuring that patients are offered proper choice of provider as well as supporting the sector to invest in, and deliver, an even wider choice of high quality services to NHS patients to bring waiting times down - all delivered free at the point of use and paid for at NHS prices.

Background information

Independent providers are commissioned by local NHS integrated care boards (ICBs), which deliver services to meet the specific health needs of their local population.

Elective recovery: a partnership agreement between the NHS and the independent sector (https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/elective-recovery-a-partnership-agreement-between-the-nhs-and-the-independent-sector/) is available on the NHS England website.