England’s NHS to trim main healthcare wait list ahead of election

LONDON: England’s health service will move about 40,000 pending child consultations for ADHD, autism and other conditions from its main waiting list, a person with direct knowledge of the change said, trimming the politically sensitive list ahead of an expected election.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative Party is trailing the Labour Party in opinion polls, has vowed to reduce wait times in the state-run National Health Service (NHS). He admitted last week he had not made enough progress, blaming strikes by healthcare workers.

New guidance for data collected this month, which will be published in April, says those waiting to see a specialist doctor in community services in two treatment categories should be removed from the headline “referral to treatment” (RTT) list, documents seen by Reuters show.

An NHS England source said around 40,000 cases, just under 10%, would move from the community paediatrics category, to a community data set that now numbers about 85,000. A much lower number would be moved from the main list for community medicine.

NHS England said the change would end duplication and have no impact on patient care.

The RTT list is the most visible monthly indicator of pressure on the country’s state-run NHS and routinely makes headlines.

The provision of free health care, strained by an ageing population, a lack of investment, staff shortages and the fall out from the pandemic, is a major concern for voters in an election expected this year.