Thousands of patients are seeing tangible benefits from the government’s Plan for Change, with the latest health data showing significant improvements in access to care.
Tens of thousands of patients up and down the country are already getting their appointments more quickly thanks to the government’s Plan for Change to reform the NHS and drive forward national renewal.
By slashing waiting lists and delivering improvements across the NHS in record time—including delivering three million additional appointments six months early—the government is exceeding its own targets and driving down waiting lists at a rapid pace. This has resulted in a six-month decline and a 219,000 reduction since July.
Around 4.5 million tests, checks and scans were carried out in Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs)—many of which are conveniently located on local high streets—between July and February, a 50% increase on the previous year.
This equates to 18,000 more checks being delivered every day for patients to diagnose some of the biggest killers, including cancer and heart disease.
As well as opening more CDCs to bring care closer to people’s homes, the government is going further and faster by significantly expanding the number of CDCs open 12 hours a day, seven days a week—making it easier for people to get their tests and appointments done at a time that suits them.
Backed by almost £26 billion investment at the Budget, the Plan for Change is driving forward reform of the NHS to put an end to the misery for many people who have had to put their lives on hold while stuck on waiting lists, delivering the change people voted for.
Alongside action to rebuild the NHS, the Plan for Change is also focused on growing the economy to improve living standards across the country.
The government is already putting more pounds in people’s pockets by freezing fuel duty, boosting the minimum wage by up to £1,400 a year, and protecting working people with no rise in their national insurance, income tax, or VAT. Living standards are growing at their fastest rate in two years, and the Spring Statement showed people will be, on average, over £500 a year better off.
Earlier this month, we outlined plans for a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which aims to put 13,000 more officers into neighbourhood policing roles by 2029—an increase of more than 50%. This will help restore people’s trust in local policing.
To ensure that working people can benefit from clean, secure, homegrown energy, we have set up Great British Energy in Aberdeen to catalyse private investment and announced its first major project: installing solar panels on 200 schools and 200 NHS sites, which will cut energy bills.
Through the Plan for Change, we are working to give every child the best start in life and break down barriers to opportunity. This week, thousands of children started attending the first 750 free breakfast clubs, providing them with a healthy start to the day, giving parents 30 minutes of free childcare, and helping them save up to £450 a year.
Restoring economic stability and driving growth is fundamental to the Plan for Change. The OBR has confirmed that the economy will grow every year from 2026 and that our planning reforms will lead to a 0.2% increase in GDP, worth £6.8 billion.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said:
Through our Plan for Change, we are getting on with the job of rebuilding our country and improving the public services we all rely on.
It’s already making a difference in people’s lives as we put police back on the beat, get more teachers in classrooms, and this week launched free breakfast clubs in hundreds of schools.
The latest data shows our approach is delivering real change, with tens of thousands more patients getting the right care and waiting lists falling faster in areas where there are higher numbers of people out of work. And this is just the start.
The government is also working at pace to slash NHS waiting lists in areas with the highest economic inactivity. The scheme, known as the Further Faster 20 programme, is part of plans to reduce the number of people unable to work due to long-term sickness, which is at its highest level since the 1990s.
The programme sees teams made up of clinical leads from across trusts, as well as national specialists, driving innovative practices. It has resulted in a total of almost 50,000 cases being removed from waiting lists in these areas since October. 35% of the national reduction in the overall waiting list has come from the 20 hospitals involved in the scheme, which has fallen faster than the national average.
Minister for Elective Care Karin Smyth said:
This government made a promise to the British public to reverse more than a decade of soaring waiting times and poor access to patient care—and through our Plan for Change, we are starting to turn the tide across every part of the country—with our crack teams already having a transformative impact.
This is a long road, but with tens of thousands more patients getting care that works for them and waiting lists falling faster in areas of high joblessness, we are getting the NHS back on its feet so it delivers for patients once again.
This is only the start. From bringing patient care closer to home, to ending the 8 am scramble for a GP appointment, this government is determined to transform our NHS to make it fit for the future.
One example of the Future Faster 20 programme is the Trafford Elective Hub, where the team have been running super-charged theatre lists that see almost twice the number of patients seen as standard theatre lists.
The hub also runs super clinics at weekends, providing one-stop shops to treat 100 patients at a time. The hub also has employment advisers on hand to help patients get back to work faster.
Miss Toli Onon, Joint Chief Medical Officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said:
The Trafford Elective Hub exemplifies innovative approaches to reducing waiting lists, such as High Performance theatre lists which are designed to optimise surgical productivity by refining the surgical pathway and minimising inefficiencies.
By enhancing the productivity and efficiency of our elective services, we are demonstrating a sustainable and effective model for the future that benefits more patients.
Other initiatives include Super Clinics. These Super Clinics, which can serve up to 100 patients over weekends, streamline care by providing multiple services in one visit and include employment advisors to help patients return to work faster.
