Elective and planned care

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of elective (planned) care and, as a result, on the lives of many patients who are waiting for treatment. Over the next three years, we will address the backlogs that have grown during the pandemic by expanding capacity, prioritising treatment and transforming delivery of services.

Throughout the pandemic we have continued to deliver elective care and make sure that the highest clinical priority patients are prioritised, including patients with cancer or suspected cancer and those with the longest waits.

How we’re making a difference

Croydon’s hospital in a hospital

Elective care

Reducing surgery waits across South West London

Elective care

What are we doing?

In 2022/23 our priorities are:

Delivering more elective care than we did before the pandemic

We are developing an elective care recovery plan for 2022/23 that will help us deliver 10% more elective activity than we provided before the pandemic, increasing to 30% more elective activity by 2024/25. We will do this by make the most of resources and capacity across the ICS, rather than each hospital working alone. For example, this could mean that a patient who has been waiting for an operation at Kingston Hospital could be treated sooner at Croydon University Hospital, or by providing some treatment in private hospitals.

Redeploying facilities, beds and staff

As we move into a different phase of the pandemic we are looking at the most effective way to redeploy facilities, beds and staff that have previously been committed to Covid. We developing plans for separating elective and non-elective care, including building a new elective surgery hub at Queen Mary’s Hospital.

Reducing waiting times

During 2022/23 we plan to have no patients who have waited 104 weeks for treatment other than those who choose to wait longer. We are also working to reduce the number of patients waiting 52 weeks or longer, and are introducing reviews every three months for anyone who does wait that long.

Developing a more personalised approach

We are developing a more personalised approach to outpatient follow up appointments in hospitals and community clinics. By making sure everybody gets a follow appointment at the right time, we can reduce the number of further appointments needed by 25%. This will not only improve patient experience and outcomes, but free up clinical time which can be spent on treating more people sooner than we have been able to in the past.