Patients who turn down two appointments will be removed from the NHS waiting list. Health chiefs have pledged to reduce time-wasters.
The threat comes despite hospitals themselves cancelling a record 22,000 ops per day this year – a 20 per cent jump compared to 2019.
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Nearly 7 million Brits are on the waiting list. 380,000 of them have been languishing for more than a year.
Efforts to clear the backlog could be further hit by a seven billion NHS cash shortfall by 2025 – around five per cent of its budget.
Bosses said that cancer and mental health services might be cut in an effort to plug the black hole.
They blame rampant inflation as well as unfunded Covid costs on the funding crisis.
Also, warn that hospitals and doctors will need to cut critical services if Liz Truss doesn’t offer more money.
Ministers signed off the two-strike method in an attempt to reduce delays.
Source: “Hospitals have asked for this so they don’t have to keep repeating the booking process for a small number of patients who refuse treatment.”
If a patient declines to attend two appointments, the hospital can place them on a different date. “active monitoring”To remove them from the system, please list them.
After three months, the patient will be called back and medics will no longer need to treat them.
President of the Royal College of Surgeons Professor Neil Mortensen told the Health Service Journal that patients should not feel excluded from the list.
He said: “These new guidelines could give us a more streamlined picture of patients waiting for treatment – and patients a more realistic idea of how long their waits might be.
“But used poorly, they could see patients lost in the system or banished to waiting list purgatory.”
An NHS spokesperson said: “This will mean the small number of patients who choose to delay their treatment will be given greater support and encouragement to proceed with the care they need.
“This is clinically better for patients and reduces the administrative burden on staff.”
The big push to clear hospitals’ Covid backlog is adding to the NHS’s money woes.
Chief financial officer Julian Kelly said the health service was due to slash around £14 billion off its spending by 2025.
But he warned: “We could see further cost pressures of about six to seven billion pounds – in addition to the 14 billion pounds.
“At that point you’re clearly not talking about further efficiencies.
“We will be having to consider and talking through with the government what the options would be.
“If you had to manage it within the budget we have, clearly you have to completely revisit investment in cancer, mental health, primary care, and increasing diagnostic capacity.”
Ask before you start to exercise.
HEALTH bosses were criticized after telling Brits to consult their GP before they exercise.
Recent guidance from the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England stated: “Remember to speak to your GP before starting any exercise plans.”
Prof Martin Marshall is the Chair of The Royal College of GPs. “GPs don’t have the capacity to sign off every patient’s individual exercise plan.”
According to Dr John Hughes, Pulse magazine is: “It’s absolutely typical of the idiocy that comes out of NHS England from people who don’t understand what GPs actually do.”