Managing NHS backlogs & waiting times

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 31 Oct 2022 Closed: 1 Jun 2023 Parliament page
As the Committee reported in March, the NHS in England was already running at close to maximum capacity before COVID-19. Pandemic disruption caused a sharp increase in waiting times and backlogs. Addressing these backlogs is a multi-faceted challenge for the NHS. In this follow up inquiry, the Committee will question … Read more
8 Recommendations
16 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
30 May
2023
Report published
24 May
2023
Correspondence
1 Mar
2023
Report published
19 Dec
2022
Correspondence
28 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
28 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
28 Nov 2022
View on parliament.uk
Managing NHS backlogs & waiting time
Amanda Pritchard · NHS England Matthew Style · Department of Health and Social Care Professor Sir Steve Powis · NHS England Sir Chris Wormald · Department of Health and Social Care Sir James Mackey · NHS England
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NHS backlogs and waiting times i… HC 729 1 Mar 2023 24 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
8 results
Clear
2 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
NHS England was over-optimistic about the circumstances in which the NHS would be trying to...
NHS England was over-optimistic about the circumstances in which the NHS would be trying to recover elective and cancer care. In our first report on NHS backlogs and waiting times in March 2022, we reported our concern that “officials are … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to revisit their planning assumptions for the recovery and publicly report any updates to targets so that patients and NHS staff can see a clear and realistic trajectory to achieve the 62-day cancer backlog target, the 52-week wait target for elective care, and, ultimately, the 18-week legal standard for elective care.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
NHS funding has increased, but to deliver key priorities such as elective and cancer recovery...
NHS funding has increased, but to deliver key priorities such as elective and cancer recovery it will need to be spent in the most cost-effective way. The Department has allocated £14 billion to NHSE from 2022–23 to 2024–25 specifically to … Read more
Government Response
NHS England will write to the Committee before summer recess to set out further detail on how funding available for elective recovery will be spent, together with details of its evaluation plans and initiatives to improve productivity.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
NHS England’s elective recovery programme partly relies on initiatives which have potential but for which...
NHS England’s elective recovery programme partly relies on initiatives which have potential but for which there is so far limited evidence of effectiveness. NHSE has expanded some programmes because it believes them to be sufficiently promising, but there is currently … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to describe the real-world impact of community diagnostic centres, surgical hubs, increased use of the independent sector, and the advice and guidance programme and write to the committee before the summer recess to give further details.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
The NHS’s recovery cannot succeed without comprehensive, realistic and sustainable plans for the future of...
The NHS’s recovery cannot succeed without comprehensive, realistic and sustainable plans for the future of the workforce and the capacity of adult social care. The Royal Colleges of Radiologists, Surgeons, Nursing, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Ophthalmologists all submitted evidence to … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to work with NHS England to reassess the achievability of elective and cancer recovery targets following the publication of its workforce plan in 2023 and the planned improvements to discharge of patients into adult social care and to publish the underlying assumptions of its workforce projections.
HM Treasury
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7 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
In July 2022, the Chief Executive of the NHS, wrote to all Chief Executives of...
In July 2022, the Chief Executive of the NHS, wrote to all Chief Executives of NHS trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and Integrated Care Boards stating that the 62-day cancer backlog target should be a critical priority for the remainder of … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to revisit planning assumptions for recovery and publicly report any updates to targets for the 62-day cancer backlog, the 52-week wait target, and the 18-week legal standard, with implementation by Spring 2024. They also announced an additional £3.3 billion for the NHS.
HM Treasury
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8 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
This Committee first looked at post-pandemic backlogs in December 2021, publishing our report in March...
This Committee first looked at post-pandemic backlogs in December 2021, publishing our report in March 2022. We noted that officials appeared to be planning on the basis of optimistic future scenarios and also that there was general over-optimism from officials … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to revisit planning assumptions and publicly report any updates to targets for cancer backlog, elective care waits, and the 18-week standard, with a target implementation date of Spring 2024, and states actions have been stepped up to tackle the backlog.
HM Treasury
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9 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
We asked NHSE about its optimism at the time it agreed the recovery targets.
We asked NHSE about its optimism at the time it agreed the recovery targets. It told us that its assumption about low levels of COVID-19 had turned out to be “completely wrong”. It added that this had resulted in both … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to revisit planning assumptions and publicly report any updates to targets for cancer backlog, elective care waits, and the 18-week standard, with a target implementation date of Spring 2024, and states actions have been stepped up to tackle the backlog.
HM Treasury
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19 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-Eighth Report - Managing NH…
We asked NHSE about its programme management of the recovery and its strategic approach to...
We asked NHSE about its programme management of the recovery and its strategic approach to tackling variation in performance between NHS areas. The National Audit Office found that, whilst recovery funding was allocated in September 2021 and the recovery plan … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and will assess all providers based on their confidence in delivering against targets, with providers at highest risk receiving additional national support and oversight; implementation by July 2023.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 24 of 8 classified
Accepted 8
Acknowledged 13
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 2
Total 8 recs + 16 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
24 May 2023 Correspondence from Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer, NHS England, re Thirty Eighth Report on NHS Backlogs and Waiting Times: Recommendations Three and Four, dated 15 May 2023
Parliament page
19 Dec 2022 Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health & Social Care, re PAC Hearing: Managing NHS Backlogs and Waiting Times, dated 12 December 2022
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