NHS England plans to spend around £120m on an “activity sprint” to boost performance against its main elective target by March, HSJ can reveal.
The funding, drawn from NHSE’s existing budget, began in January, with trusts asked to develop plans and increase activity as quickly as possible. The pot will primarily support additional outpatient work, particularly first appointments and outpatient procedures.
Between 70 and 80 per cent of patients conclude their pathway at the outpatient or diagnostic stage, and the focus is intended to generate as many referral-to-treatment clock stops as possible in the final weeks of 2025-26. A smaller share will fund treatment for patients waiting more than 52 weeks.
In December, there were around 141,000 one-year breaches, or 1.9 per cent of the 7.3 million-strong waiting list. NHSE’s ambition to cut this below 1 per cent now appears highly challenging. The sprint runs alongside a separate £30m validation exercise aimed at removing 600,000 cases from the list.
NHSE is under pressure from ministers to deliver improvements. The overall 18-week RTT position stood at 61.5 per cent in December, against a March target of 65 per cent. Confidence is higher about improving performance than about hitting that mark.
Surrender
North East and North Cumbria didn’t even wait for the independent patient choice and procurement panel to finish its review before surrendering to a private provider’s complaint about a contract award to a local trust.
Thrive Health Hubs, a private provider offering services in the South East of England, complained to the panel after the ICB announced its intention to award the contract to South Tyneside and Sunderland Foundation, following the Most Suitable Provider process.
During the standstill period, THH submitted representations to the panel, setting out its concerns about the provider selection process. But, after a review, the ICB decided to press ahead with awarding the contract to STSFT, prompting THH’s complaint to the panel.
The ICB then rowed back on its decision to award the contract to the trust before the panel had the chance to make any recommendations, in the first case of its kind since it was set up in 2024 to regulate awards under the Provider Selection Regime.
