Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether and how they expect the plans for NHS reform announced by the Prime Minister on 6 January to improve per capita productivity in the health sector; and from which local examples of good practice these plans draw.

The Government has now published its plan, Reforming elective care for patients, to tackle the National Health Service waiting lists. This plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care, so that we can return to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral. A copy of the plan is attached.

It prioritises reforms that help deliver a system which is not just better for patients but also more productive in every pound spent, for example, through cutting down on missed or unnecessary appointments.

The plan focusses on learning from best practice already in the system and includes a number of case studies that display examples of where trusts have made services more productive to improve the outcomes and experiences of their patients, for example, South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre’s use of surgical hubs or the use of primary and secondary care interface working at Berkshire West.