Yesterday, I travelled to London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital, where staff members have significantly increased the number of cataract operations they can perform in a single week thanks to two of the 91 surgical hubs that have already made it possible for our NHS to perform more procedures quickly and effectively under one roof.
I want to reassure readers of The Times who are awaiting critical procedures or who have a friend or family member who is that we are taking action.
Today, I made the announcement that more than 50 new surgical facilities, supported by £1.5 billion in government funding, will serve hundreds of thousands of patients nationwide in an effort to reduce the Covid backlog.
16 of these new hubs’ locations have already been determined, and new facilities are being added to existing hubs. Over the upcoming weeks and months, offers for the remaining hubs will be taken into consideration.
These new centres, which will be situated on existing hospital grounds from the Midlands to the South West, would shorten wait times for frequent procedures like cataract surgery and hip replacements, which account for a sizable portion of the waiting list.
For instance, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is utilising its surgical hubs to cut down on the number of days patients need to spend in the hospital for hip and knee replacements, allowing more patients to recover the day following surgery in the comfort of their own homes.
Importantly, over the next three years, these new surgical hubs will perform roughly two million more common procedures, building on the advancements we have already made.
The first goal of our elective recovery plan, waiting times of more than two years for regular treatment, has already been essentially achieved thanks to the dedication of NHS personnel.
Additionally, since January, the number of individuals waiting 18 months or longer for care has decreased by approximately one third.
This momentum will be maintained and more individuals will have faster access to life-changing procedures thanks to these additional centres.