Can Sunak’s crisis plan save the NHS?

Rishi Sunak’s problems aren’t confined to his party. The NHS is in trouble and one of the Prime Minister’s five new year pledges was to get its record waiting list – 7.2 million in NHS England alone – down, ensuring patients get faster access to care.

The problem with this promise is that the waiting list is expected to grow even bigger this year. What number it ultimately reaches depends on how many people turn up at an NHS hospital, having held back doing so during the pandemic years. With this variable out of the government’s control (and indeed, we want these people to come forward and seek treatment), it has to focus on capacity within the health service – to make sure patients can be processed and treated at a faster pace.

This is the idea behind today’s new blueprint: a joint-plan from the government and NHS England to ‘recover’ urgent and emergency care services.