Starmer attempts new reset with plans to cut NHS waits

Keir Starmer will attempt to reset his premiership next week by setting out radical NHS reforms aimed at slashing waiting times.

- Andrew Gregory

The shake-up comes after a torrid first six months in government and amid mounting frustration among patients, of whom more than 6 million are waiting for care. Under the plans, patients will be able to get direct referrals for tests and scans across a range of ear, nose and throat, gynaecological, urological, bowel and lung conditions.

Thousands in England will also be offered a "same-day service", with follow-up consultations on the day of scans or tests, enabling people to start treatment or get the all-clear quicker.

In addition, a major expansion of ringfenced elective capacity in the NHS will mean routine care such as hip and knee replacement surgery will be protected from winter pressures and future pandemics.

Ministers hope the NHS reforms and other new year announcements will correct months of drift for the government. However, senior doctors said they were not convinced Starmer's plans would work because there were insufficient staff to bring down waiting lists in the near future. Some also said that without an equally focused effort to rescue urgent and emergency care, plans to improve routine care were "deluded".

Though Rachel Reeves's budget promised an extra £22bn over two years to cut waiting times, most NHS trust bosses remain sceptical.

A recent survey by NHS Providers found 71% of leaders overall, and 100% of those who run acute and ambulance trusts, thought it unlikely that they could make progress by 2029.