0:00
could the private healthcare sector help
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k starma cut NHS waiting lists that's
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what the government are hoping for after
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a new agreement to more closely link the
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NHS and the private sector was unveiled
0:10
today in an attempt to cut waiting times
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for patients ministers say the New Deal
0:15
will improve patient choice is part of
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plans to end the health backlog but what
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does it all mean well the NHS and
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independent sector partnership agreement
0:23
will see patients offered a wider choice
0:25
of providers for tests or scans
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including private care paid for by the
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state this will focus on certain
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specialist treatment areas including
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Orthopedics and Gynecology which face
0:35
long waiting lists and in more deprived
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areas of the country some 260,000 women
0:40
are waiting more than 18 weeks for
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Gynecology treatment while more than 40%
0:45
of Orthopedics patients wait longer than
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the 18we target this could see an
0:49
additional 1 million appointments a year
0:50
expected to be delivered for NHS
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patients how will this be done private
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providers will have to review their
0:56
clinical exclusion criteria to ensure as
0:58
broad a cohort of patients as possible
1:00
can be treated privately to avoid only
1:03
easy procedures being done by the sector
1:05
and by March 2027 the NHS app will also
1:08
be significantly expanded along with the
1:11
manage your referral website it will
1:12
become the default route by which
1:14
patients choose where they wish to be
1:16
treated could it work well it will prove
1:18
politically controversial as the Prime
1:20
Minister acknowledged today starma
1:22
pledged his government's approach must
1:23
be totally unburdened by dogma and
1:26
welcome moves to make the spaces
1:27
facilities and resources of private
1:29
hospitals more readily available to the
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NHS he added I know some people won't
1:34
like this but I make no apologies I'm
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not interested in putting ideology
1:38
before patients and I'm not interested
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in moving at the pace of excuses Health
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secretary West streeting added if the
1:44
wealthy can be treated on time then so
1:46
should NHS patients The Wider context of
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all this is the government's overarching
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aim to meet the NHS standard of 92% of
1:53
patients in England waiting no longer
1:55
than 18 weeks for elective treatment
1:57
this was unveiled before Christmas and
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has not been met since 2015 it's an
2:01
ambitious Target for the government and
2:03
one which the public often cite as one
2:05
of their top priorities so any failure
2:07
to deliver could be politically risky
2:09
what do you make of plans to involve the
2:11
private sector more closely in the NHS
2:13
let us know in the comments and download
2:15
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