Last week Julia Lopez MP welcomed the Government’s announcement that NHS patients would be offered more choice for out-of-hospital services. The new scheme was announced as a pilot to help drive up standards and cut waiting lists for NHS patients.
Since May 2023, the Government has tasked the NHS with making sure that NHS patients can choose from a minimum of five providers for their hospital care when referred by a GP. The move was designed to encourage providers to be more responsive to their patients needs, leading to higher standards, as well as helping to reduce wait lists by almost 200,000 since September 2023.
Following the success of the first scheme, the Government have announced that those choices will be expanded to include some out of hospital services where appropriate. The new scheme will offer patients more choice in services such as endoscopy, nutrition and podiatry.
This means that when a patient is referred for one of the approved new services, they will, when appropriate, be able to choose which provider is right for them. This could include high street providers, or providers in the independent sector. Importantly, the treatment will always be free of charge.
Over the next few months, local NHS trusts will be tasked with considering which services would benefit from this approach in their local areas, and providers will be invited to take part in these pilots.
The results will then be evaluated to see the impact that the scheme has had before taking further steps.
Commenting on the announcement, Julia Lopez said:
I welcome the Government’s announcement that they are planning to expand the patient choice pilot to cover some out-of-hospital services. It’s good to see that we are building on the early success of the initial scheme which has helped to see waiting lists fall and improve choice for patients here in Havering and across the country.
One of my big priorities since getting elected in 2017 is improving healthcare here in Hornchurch and Upminster. I have lobbied the Department for Health extensively, ultimately securing £17m for the new St. George’s Health Hub that is due to open very soon. The new hub will help transform healthcare for local people in our area and have a positive impact on people’s lives for decades to come. Last week’s announcement is just one of the many ways healthcare is improving for local people here in Hornchurch and Upminster.
