Waiting times for hospital treatment have reached their highest level for three years according to a new quarterly monitoring report produced by The King’s Fund.
The report provides a snapshot of the state of the NHS by combining analysis of key performance data with the views of a panel of NHS finance directors. It highlights the pressure building within the health system as budgets are squeezed and the NHS struggles to deliver productivity improvements. Among the key findings:
• Most of the finance directors surveyed are already warning that they are unlikely to meet productivity targets in 2011/12.
• The panel outlined a range of plans for making services more efficient but nearly half identified ward closures and cuts in services among the main ways of meeting productivity targets in their area.
• In February 2011, nearly 15% of hospital inpatients waited over 18 weeks for treatment – the highest level since April 2008.
• The proportion of patients waiting more than four hours in A&E rose sharply at the end of 2010, reaching its highest level since 2004/05.
• The proportion of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic services fell back in February, reversing a steady increase since June 2010.
• Levels of hospital-acquired infections have fallen to their lowest level in recent years, while delays in transferring patients out of hospital remain stable.
The panel highlighted a range of plans for improving productivity in their area including workforce changes, redesigning services to improve efficiency and reducing lengths of stay in hospital. Only six identified back office efficiencies among the main ways productivity targets will be met, with a number sceptical about the savings to be made through this route. 12 of the 26 panellists identified closing hospital wards and reducing services among the main ways that savings will be delivered in their area.
