Labour leader Keir Starmer has defended his plan to reduce NHS waiting lists in England by funding an additional two million hospital appointments annually outside traditional operating hours. The proposed initiative would provide £1.1 billion per year by eliminating the non-dom tax status, with the funds ensuring 40,000 out-of-hours appointments each week. Although NHS medical professionals may earn more working in the private sector during non-traditional hours, Sir Keir highlighted that comparable schemes have proved successful elsewhere in the UK.
Increasing the number of hospital appointments held outside standard hours is expected to reduce waiting times for patients, which have grown alarmingly over the past year due to the pandemic. Currently, roughly 5.1 million patients are awaiting hospital treatment, of whom roughly 270,000 are waiting six months or longer. As of February this year, NHS England recorded the highest-ever number of patients awaiting elective care at any given time in its history.
The NHS is under pressure to reduce patient waiting times as the pandemic continues to put strain on the organisation. The additional funding for out-of-hours appointments would help ease some of the burden by increasing the capacity for patients requiring hospital services. In addition to the proposed initiative, the Labour Party has launched a new National Care Service proposal which seeks to improve care services and provide better support for elderly and vulnerable people.
Starmer has received criticism from some sources, with Conservative MPs stating that his plans to address NHS issues lack specifics and are driven by political point-scoring. However, the Labour leader maintains that his party is dedicated to resolving the problems faced by the NHS and providing a better standard of care to patients
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