Sir Keir Starmer says there will be ‘greater choice and convenience for patients’ (Image: PA)
Millions of patients will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster, Sir will promise.
Unveiling a new plan to tackle hospital backlogs, the Prime Minister will insist the measures can help cut the 7.5million-strong waiting list.
Sir Keir hopes the plans will help the NHS meet the 18-week standard for planned treatment.
Restoring this standard will mean millions of patients no longer having their lives put on hold, he will say.
The elective reform plan, published by NHS England, aims to hit the 18-week referral to treatment target by 2029.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the new targets are ‘ambitious’ (Image: PA)
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It includes expanded use of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) so that more people will be able to access tests and checks.
The NHS will also increase the number of surgical hubs, which help protect planned care from the impact of seasonal and other pressures.
Sir Keir hopes the plan will help the Government fulfill its promise of two million extra appointments in its first year, equivalent to 40,000 every week.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s announcement, Sir Keir said: “This Government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.
“NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear. Lives on hold. Potential unfulfilled.
“This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.
“This is a key plank of our Plan for Change, which will drive growth that puts more money in people’s pockets, secures our borders and makes the NHS fit for the future so what working people live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives.”
Up to 500,000 more appointments a year are expected to be created in total by opening CDCs for longer and bringing 17 new and expanded surgical hubs online.
The plans also involve increasing the availability of same-day tests and consultations so patients do not have to wait for weeks in between different stages of care.
They will also expand the range of tests available at CDCs so people get better access to treatment. It will enable GPs to direct patients straight to diagnostic testing so they get their tests quicker, before having to see a specialist – in turn saving them time and travel.
Alongside the extended hours for CDCs, 14 new surgical hubs will be created within existing hospitals by June and three others expanded – with more expected in coming years supported by a £1.5billion boost.
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Under the plan, 65% of patients will be treated within 18 weeks by the end of next year. Based on the size of the current waiting list, that would mean a fall of more than 450,000 people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We inherited record long waiting lists, impacting patients’ lives and their livelihoods. Only the combination of investment and radical reform can turn this around, as we’re setting out today.
“Our Plan for Change set an ambitious target to cut maximum wait times from 18 months to 18 weeks, and we will achieve it by bringing care closer to home and give patients more choice over their treatment.
“The NHS should work around patients’ lives, not the other way around. By opening community diagnostic centres on high streets 12 hours a day, seven days a week, patients will now be able to arrange their tests and scans for when they go to do their weekend shopping, rather than being forced to take time out of work.
“The reforms we’re launching today will free up millions of appointments, so the NHS can be there for us when we need it once again.”
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “NHS staff have worked tirelessly to bring down the longest waits, treating record numbers of elective patients last year, but with one in nine people currently on a waiting list it is right that we now go further and faster.
“This ambitious blueprint will build on our progress and support hard-working NHS staff to deliver faster routine care for patients with the aim of treating nine in 10 within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament.
“The radical reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments and operations, but do things differently too – boosting convenience and putting more power in the hands of patients, especially through the NHS app.”