The Society of Radiographers has said it is “no surprise” that a report released on Sunday (8 September) by the NHS Confederation claimed extra appointments alone would not solve the waiting list crisis.
Following a pledge by the new Labour government to deliver two million extra NHS appointments a year, or almost 40,000 a week, NHS membership organisation the NHS Confederation developed an analysis of the potential impacts of the pledge, entitled "Achieving the 18-week standard for elective care".
It found extra NHS appointments alone will not be enough to solve the NHS waiting list crisis, nor meet Labour’s target of 92 per cent of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.
State of affairs
NHS Confederation is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services.
In it's latest report, the confederation explained there are currently over 7.5 million unresolved open care pathways, impacting around 6.4 million individuals in England. Nearly 4 million of these unresolved open pathways are part of a backlog accumulated over the last 10 years.
Dean Rogers, SoR director of industrial strategy, said: “This report offers no surprises for radiographers, the SoR or any NHS employer who’s been paying attention. And there shouldn’t be any surprises in there for the government, either.
“Radiographers are vital to any plan to reduce NHS waiting lists. More than a million patients are currently waiting to see a Diagnostic Radiographer for a scan. One in five patients is now waiting at least six weeks to be seen by a member of the radiography workforce.”
Dean emphasised long waiting lists are the “direct result of 15 years of failure by the Conservative and coalition governments to invest in the staff and equipment necessary to meet rising demand”.
The average vacancy rate for radiography has risen to 13.4 per cent, and a recent survey of SoR members revealed 82 per cent could only fill their departmental roster with regular overtime shifts.
Moving forward
NHS Confederation analysis emphasised “a more transformational response is required” to ensure timely access to care.
The report said: “Change is needed in every step of the pathway of care: it requires both a strengthened and renewed focus on existing initiatives as well as a more radical approach to the creation of elective hubs and centres of expertise for complex care.”
The steps it said needed taking include:
- Assessing the drivers for rising demand for elective treatment, and ensuring people are receiving the right care
- Digitalising waiting-list management and continuously validating the patient tracking list
- Transformation of outpatient elective care for people who do not need a hospital admission
- Creating elective hubs for people whose treatment involves an admission to hospital
- Creating centres of expertise for complex elective admitted care
- Focusing on the enablers of change critical to transforming care
- Addressing the residual backlog of patients waiting
‘Real and sustainable change’
Assuming no further progress in the transformation of care delivery, the report said the NHS will need to provide 33.6 million outpatient appointments, 4 million day-case procedures and 1.1 million overnight stays to clear the waitlist back to levels that would sustain 18-week performance in 2028/29.
This is 50 per cent more activity than is currently being delivered.
Dean added: “Ever since the plan to reduce NHS waiting lists by paying employees to work longer hours was first mooted, the SoR has been saying that this is not a serious plan. Our members are already working excessive hours – there are no additional hours left to work safely.
“We are deeply concerned by evidence that many trusts routinely require radiographers to work long night shifts, and ignore their legal obligations to conduct basic health tests. As a result, more and more radiographers are being pushed to the point of burnout.
“So we believe this report is an important first step. Saying out loud that you recognise the problem is a big step towards making real and sustainable change.”
(Image: Dean Rogers)