Labour's NHS rescue plan unveiled as hospitals set to pool staff and waiting list to save health service

18 May 2024, 22:31 | Updated: 18 May 2024, 22:42

Hospitals will be told pool staff and waiting lists across regions under Labour plans to banish NHS backlogs.
Hospitals will be told pool staff and waiting lists across regions under Labour plans to banish NHS backlogs. Picture: Alamy

By Chay Quinn

Hospitals will be told pool staff and waiting lists across regions under Labour plans to banish NHS backlogs.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Under the plans, hospitals will run evening and weekend surgeries, with staff and resources pooled across a region.

Patients will be offered appointments at nearby hospitals, rather than necessarily at their local one, allowing them to be treated faster.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: "Fourteen years of Conservative neglect has seen waiting lists treble and, despite Rishi Sunak's promise, they are still rising.

Read More: Labour's six pledges are 'woolly ideas' and the party won't deliver for NHS and policing, says Tory party chairman

Read More: 'Local hero' who raised thousands for NHS during Covid pandemic is killed in Leeds pub attack

"Only Labour has a plan to reform our NHS, get hospitals working together with shared waiting lists and staff, to get patients treated on time again."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: "Fourteen years of Conservative neglect has seen waiting lists treble and, despite Rishi Sunak's promise, they are still rising. Picture: Alamy

The party has pledged to spend £1.1 billion to pay staff extra for out-of-hours working to deliver the promised 40,000 weekly operations, scans or appointments.

The opposition believes it can raise the money through clamping down on tax dodgers and tightening up the rules on non-domiciled people.

Labour highlighted the way staff at Guys and St Thomas's in London used a high-intensity theatre (HIT) list to more efficiently perform more procedures.

The HIT list system involves increasing the number of anaesthetic, surgical and theatre staff in order to minimise the turnaround time between cases.

By using two theatres at the same time, surgeons can be operating at the same time as their next patient is being prepared and anaesthetised.

While on a normal working day they can perform three knee surgeries for patients, they get through 12 when doing a HIT list.

The HIT lists focus on one type of procedure at a time, and take place at weekends.

But Labour research indicated more than half of England's hospitals close operating theatres at the weekends.

According to a Labour Party Freedom of Information request last year, hospitals performed an average of 795 procedures on weekdays, but just 176 on Saturdays or Sundays.

Ministers Debate Proposals For Foundation Hospitals
According to a Labour Party Freedom of Information request last year, hospitals performed an average of 795 procedures on weekdays, but just 176 on Saturdays or Sundays. Picture: Getty
London, UK. 12th Mar, 2024. Richard Holden, Chairman of the Conservative Party, at Downing Street for the Cabinet meeting. Credit: Mark Thomas/Alamy Live News
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said: "While Labour would increase your taxes, the Conservatives are making progress on cutting the NHS waiting lists which have fallen by around 200,000 since September 2023, the biggest six-month fall in over 10 years outside the pandemic.". Picture: Alamy

Mr Streeting said: "We will learn from the great innovations already happening in the health service, and take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.

"That's how Labour will cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more evening and weekend appointments each week, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and non-dom loopholes."

The promise to cut NHS waiting lists was one of the "first steps" for a Labour government set out by Sir Keir Starmer.

The Tories repeated their claim that Labour will have to raise taxes to fill a £38.5 billion hole in their spending commitments.

Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said: "While Labour would increase your taxes, the Conservatives are making progress on cutting the NHS waiting lists which have fallen by around 200,000 since September 2023, the biggest six-month fall in over 10 years outside the pandemic.

"Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are sticking with the plan which is working, helping patients get the care they need more quickly so they can lead healthy and happy lives."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Police have released new CCTV of Harshita Brella and her husband

Chilling CCTV released of Harshita Brella and prime murder suspect husband on night she was killed

First photos of Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special as James Corden and Ruth Jones mark triumphant finale

First photos of Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special as James Corden and Ruth Jones mark show's triumphant finale

King Charles performs a Hongi, a traditional Maori greeting, with Mere Takoko

King Charles shares traditional Maori nose rub greeting with activist as he launches environmental charity

Putin issued a chilling threat to the West as he confirmed Russia launched a ballistic missile against Ukraine

Putin issues chilling warning to UK and US as he confirms Russia hit Ukraine with new 'experimental' ballistic missile

Telegraph writer Allison Pearson.

Police drop investigation into journalist Allison Pearson over tweet - as review to be launched over handling of case

Exclusive
Angela Rayner has paid tribute to John Prescott

Angela Rayner says John Prescott 'used to call her after PMQs to remind her to stay true to who she is'

Four men have been arrested accused of attempting to rob a mobile phone store

Undercover police arrest four men after EE shop raided by masked gang

Matt Gaetz withdraws as Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations

Matt Gaetz withdraws as Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations

Donald Trump Watches SpaceX Launch Its Sixth Test Flight Of Starship Spacecraft

Elon Musk pledges to fire civil servants who work from home

Seven-month-old baby mauled to death by family dog after leaning on animal while crawling, inquest hears

Seven-month-old baby mauled to death by family dog sustained 'catastrophic' injuries after leaning on pet, inquest hears

Starmer has backed the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Starmer backs International Criminal Court after it issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu

Five men charged over smuggling of migrants from UK to France in lorries

Five men charged over smuggling of migrants from UK to France in lorries following dawn raids

Rhiannon Skye Whyte was stabbed to death in Walsall

South Sudanese teen accused of murdering asylum seeker hotel worker with screwdriver 'refuses to appear in court'

Will Guyatt questions who is responsible for the safety of children online

Are Zuckerberg and Musk responsible for looking after my kids online?

Simone White has died following a poisoning with alcoholic drinks at a bar in Loas

British lawyer, 28, dies following suspected mass methanol poisoning at bar in Laos

Russia has claimed that Britain is directly involved in the war in Ukraine

Britain now 'directly involved in war in Ukraine', Russian ambassador to UK says