Issue One

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A plan to tackle the backlog of patients on hospital waiting lists in England has been put on hold.

Details of the Nhs England scheme were expected to be published on Monday but that has been paused after reports of a last minute intervention by Whitehall.

But the government has announced people needing non-urgent surgery will be able to get information about waiting times through a new online service.

It is not clear When the full plan will be published.

A record for non-urgent operations and procedures in England in November, with the suspension of routine surgery at times during the pandemic adding to pressures which were already clear before it began.

Nhs England has drawn up a wide-ranging plan to tackle the backlog and it was widely expected to be published on Monday.

It is believed This Was supported across government but its understood that because of a late intervention much of The Plan has been put on hold.

The Treasury has not commented on that it wanted a delay in publication.

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How is the NHS in your area coping this winter?

Enter a postcode to find out. Eg ‘M50 2EQ'

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This trust does not currently supply A&E waiting time Figures .

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About the Data Ambulance queues

When patients arrive at hospital by ambulance they should be handed over within 15 Minutes . This Data shows the proportion of ambulance patients who waited 30 Minutes or more, in the week shown. It Comes from daily situation reports which are published weekly during The Winter in England. As this is fast-turnaround Data , the NHS says only minimal validation can be carried out but it is considered fit for Purpose .

Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland do not publish ambulance queue Data .

A&E waits

Patients at A&E should be seen within four hours of arrival. This Data shows the proportion of patients attending A&E who waited longer than four hours to be treated, discharged or admitted.

This Data is published monthly for England and Wales and weekly for Scotland . Northern Ireland publishes its Data quarterly and Winter 2021 is Not Yet available.

Bed waits and occupancy

If a patient at A&E needs to be admitted, The Wait from decision to admit to being given a Bed on A Ward is recorded in England. The Bed waits figure is the proportion of patients admitted via A&E who waited longer than four hours for A Ward Bed .

In Wales, Bed wait Data is not published, so the figure shown is the occupancy level in general and acute beds. Scotland and Northern Ireland do not publish Bed wait or Bed occupancy Data .

NHS trusts and boards

Data for England is show by NHS trust, where The Trust includes at least one hospital with a Type 1 A&E department. Type 1 means a consultant-led 24 hour A&E service with full resuscitation facilities.

When you enter a postcode for a location in England you will be shown a list of NHS trusts in your area. They will not necessarily be in order of your closest hospital as some trusts have More Than one hospital. Data for Wales and Scotland are shown by NHS board.

Comparative Data from two years ago is shown where available. However, where trusts have merged there is no like-for-like comparison to show. Bed occupancy Data in Wales only goes back to April 2020.

What has been announced is an online platform called My Planned Care, which will be launched later this month, to give patients waiting for routine surgery increased transparency about their local hospitals and information they might need while preparing for their operations.

There will also be advice on prevention services, such as How To stop smoking and exercise plans, to make sure people are fit for surgery.

A third of on-the-day cancellations of operations were due to people not being clinically ready for treatment, The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

The Platform will initially be available through the NHS website but it is expected it will become available through the NHS app in The Future .

Tackling the backlog of non-urgent operations in England is seen as a key priority by ministers.

With that in mind the chancellor announced his spending plans for the NHS last autumn and the increase in national insurance contributions to cover extra funding.

Nhs England has drawn up a detailed plan for carrying out more operations and making The Process more efficient.

Officials want to publish it as soon as they can, having got what was understood to be backing from Downing Street.

But over the weekend it seems there was An Intervention from one part of Whitehall and full publication was stalled.

Now one section of The Blueprint has been released, but there is a lot more still to come.

It is not clear When the full plan will be published or why, given The Urgency of the issue, one section of government would want to hold it back.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the My Planned Care platform, alongside funding, would help " ensure access to life changing care and support for people no matter who they are or where they live".

" At The Height of the pandemic the NHS rightly focused on treating Covid-19 patients, but sadly it has meant waiting lists have Risen - and the Covid backlog is going to keep rising, " He Said .

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers - which represents health trusts, said staff would be " going Flat Out to meet The Challenges presented by long waits".

He Said The Platform was designed to improve information for patients ahead of treatment and reduce cancellations.

" The publication of full details of this plan, which trust leaders have helped create and expect shortly, will be a key moment for the NHS, " He Said .

" Trusts will do all they can to deliver The Plan and get through their backlogs as quickly as possible. "

Source of news: bbc.com