Book a private operation… via the NHS app! Reorganization will allow patients to seek treatment

Patients will be encouraged to book private treatment via the NHS app in a bid to reduce waiting lists, it was claimed last night.

Delays in routine treatment reached a record 7.33 million and are expected to continue to rise, forcing more use of private hospitals.

But there is a cross-party consensus that this will only happen if patients are given the option of choosing where to receive treatment.

The NHS app will play an important role in encouraging choice and reducing queues by allowing patients to compare prices at private treatment centers during short waiting times.

Rishi Sunak believes that giving patients better data on their local hospital’s performance and more on-site options will put pressure on underperformers and raise standards.

GPs are expected to be more closely monitored to see if they routinely offer a choice of providers to patients, including private centres.

In the coming weeks, the Prime Minister is expected to promote patient choice and publish a report recommending increased treatment capacity “to the extent possible through the independent sector.”

Patient choice will become ‘the default mechanism’ for those who are referred for routine care and Mr Sunak is expected to insist that voice be central to the NHS.

Sir Tony Blair introduced the patient’s right to choose where to receive treatment, but the power to exercise this right has diminished as the NHS focuses on other priorities.

Of a total of 1.5 million monthly procedures paid for by the SNS, the private sector carries out around 140,000 of these.

According to The Times, the government is considering how this can be scaled up with the NHS app which is expected to encourage choice and enable patients to find shorter waiting times.

Currently only 28 NHS hospitals allow patients to manage their appointments via the app, but this is expected to be expanded to include private hospitals for the first time.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We have already started to implement the work of the elective recovery task force and a full plan will be published soon, outlining how we can go even further to unlock the independent sector.”

More outsourcing of cancer checks is also expected to be part of the plan in a bid to address delays that doctors fear will lead to thousands of premature deaths.

Only 63.5 percent of patients who receive a cancer diagnosis start treatment within two months of referral for testing versus a target of 85 percent that has not been reached for nine years.

Today, 106 community diagnostic centers offering blood tests and scans and dozens more run by the private sector are expected to increase the number to around 190.

Richard Murray, chief executive of think tank King’s Fund, told The Times that when the choice was introduced in the 2000s, GPs found it “irritating” and patients were more interested.

He said: ‘The first response you get is, ‘We just want to go to our local hospital, so can’t you make the waiting list low?’ he said. He added that using the app would “cut out some of the red tape” but many patients would still want to talk to their GP.