Patients may have to travel for care to tackle NHS backlog

Patients may be made to travel for hospital treatment in order to tackle the record high and growing NHS backlog, chief executive of NHS Providers has confirmed today

Chris Hopson told Times Radio that such “radical ideas” are being considered, but it is likely that people will be recommended to visit neighbouring hospitals.

He went on to say that there was “a moral obligation on trusts and their leaders to make sure that they do everything they can, no stone unturned” to enact a “comprehensive plan” to address the 5.8 million backlog in appointments, that the health secretary admitted could rise to over 6 million by 2022 in an interview with Sky News.

“Some of it will be all the traditional things that we do, which is: expand temporary capacity; ensure that we use overtime as much as possible; ensure that we use the capacity that sits in the independent sector.

“But I think we recognise we need to go further and that’s why, some of those radical ideas, we are considering and looking at them,” he explained.