UK govt meets NHS vow with 2 million new appointments- Starmer

By AFP - Feb 17,2025 - Last updated at Feb 17,2025

LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government Monday celebrated meeting one of its "milestones" by adding two million extra public healthcare appointments less than a year after being elected.

One of Starmer's priorities in his "plan for change" for Britain was to reform the ailing state-run National Health Service by slashing waiting lists, including through delivering two million extra NHS appointments in a year.

NHS England figures showed that between July and November 2024 there were almost 2.2 million more appointments compared with the same period in 2023, although those months had been affected by lengthy doctor strikes.

"This milestone is a shot in the arm for our plan to get the NHS back on its feet and cut waiting times," Starmer, who was elected in July, said in a statement late Sunday.

According to a government press release, the target was helped by "ending NHS strikes", boosting flu vaccines and upping NHS funding.

"We've delivered on our first step, and we've delivered it seven months early," Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC on Monday.

The number of patients waiting for treatment also fell in December for the fourth month in a row, from 6.28 million to 6.24 million people, according to NHS England figures last week.

In September an independent report said the NHS was in a "critical condition" following years of underfunding and ineffective reorganisation.

And Streeting conceded there were still "massive challenges in the NHS", which has been struggling to get back on its feet after the Covid-19 pandemic and following a period of frequent strikes over pay and conditions.

Starmer's planned reforms include the expansion of so-called community diagnostic centres, increasing private sector involvement and the use of technology to ease hospital backlogs.

One of the government's key milestones is to meet an existing NHS target for 92 per cent of patients waiting for treatment to be seen within 18 weeks of being referred.

The two million targets is a "crucial step towards treating 92% of elective care patients within 18 weeks of referral by the end of this parliament" in 2029, a government press release said.

However, NHS data showed only 58.9 per cent of patients were seen within 18 weeks in December 2024, and a record number of people were waiting over 12 hours after being admitted to emergency care.

Winter months have seen NHS trusts overflowing with patients, with patients being regularly treated in hospital corridors due to a shortage of beds.

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