Private hospitals 'can help us cure the NHS' as Rishi Sunak promises to slash ... trends now
More NHS patients will be sent to private hospitals and new surgical hubs or treated at home in 'virtual wards' under Rishi Sunak's plan to slash waiting lists.
The Prime Minister today identified cutting record waiting times as one of five key pledges voters should judge him on at the next general election.
He ruled out cancelling planned non-emergency surgery to ease the pressure on hospitals this winter, saying that a similar policy during Covid was 'the reason we've got a huge waiting list now'.
Instead he detailed a string of changes designed to free up hospital beds and reduce demand.
Rishi Sunak smiles as he arrives to deliver a speech on his 'five promises' on the NHS on Wednesday
Ambulance workers hold placards as hey picket outside London Ambulance Service headquarters during a strike on December 21
Latest figures show that more than 7.2million patients are currently waiting for treatment.
The PM admitted Britons 'aren't receiving the care they deserve' despite 'record sums' being pumped into the NHS. He stressed: 'We need to recognise that something has to change.'
He ruled out major 'structural change' before the election and vowed that the principle that the NHS should be free at the point of use would never be altered.
But he said he was 'comfortable' with the NHS making more use of private hospitals 'if that's what it takes to get patients quicker and better care'. Patients will also be given 'as much choice as possible', including options to travel to a hospital further away for faster treatment.
And the PM said he would 'no longer expect' huge variations in performance between health trusts. Sources said poorly-performing trusts would be required to match the most efficient ones.
Mr Sunak said his immediate focus would be on tackling delays in discharging patients from hospitals to free up beds. This would be achieved by putting more money into social care.
He insisted: 'The biggest problem that we have is there are at the moment around 13,000 in hospital beds who should ideally be back in their communities or in social care. And that's what's making our hospitals full.'
But he said that a combination of the private sector and 300 new 'surgical hubs' and diagnostic centres could start tackling the huge backlog of routine operations.
He added: 'One of our initiatives to stop [backlogs] happening again is to create what are called elective surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres
