Health Secretary Steve Barclay said more than 50 new surgical centers will open across the UK to help tackle the COVID backlog.
The new centers will provide at least 100 more operating theaters and 1,000 more beds, with the goal of providing nearly two million more regular operations over the next three years, he added.
The beds will be allocated to planned operations, which the government hopes will reduce the risk of cancellations in the short term.
The announcement comes amid pressure on the government to tackle the backlog, following major disruptions to the NHS during the pandemic, which has caused operations to be canceled and treatment delayed.
“To address the COVID backlog and keep pace with future needs, we cannot just do business as usual,” said Mr. Barclay.
The new surgical centers will focus primarily on delivering low-complexity, high-volume surgeries, such as cataract surgery and hip replacement, and will be located at disease sites. existing institute.
Currently, 91 surgical centers have been opened, meaning a total of more than 140 centers will be opened across the UK by 2024/25.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, described the surgery centers as a “critical part of the plan to restore elective services across England”.
NHS data from earlier this month revealed severe delays in conventional hospital treatmentswith the number of people waiting for them to start in the UK hitting a record high.
A total of 6.7 million people waited to start treatment by the end of June – up from 6.6 million in May and the highest number since records began in August 2007.
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Health Sec faces first aid times
However, NHS England said the number of people waiting two years or more of treatment has significantly decreased as part of a plan to clear the backlog.
Even so, the number of people waiting more than a year, in May, was more than 330,000, compared with 1,613 in February 2020, before the pandemic.
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The 87-year-old man’s family was forced to build him a shelter outside the football goal after 15 hours of waiting for an ambulance.
The government has also faced criticism for the way it handles long wait times for ambulances. NHS data earlier this month showed ambulances took an average of almost an hour to respond to emergency calls in the UK last month.
