Tag: Health and wellbeing

Let’s Move! New campaign to keep England’s kids active

Nearly three in five parents expect children’s physical activity to drop this winter

  • Over half of children aren’t getting the recommended 60 minutes of daily activity, with levels set to drop this autumn and winter – and around 8 in 10 parents underestimating how much movement kids need.
  • The campaign is backed by Alex and Olivia Bowen, Max Whitlock, Beth Tweddle and Joe Wicks, who has shared top tips for parents getting active with children, as research uncovers impact parents have on their children’s activity levels.

Almost three in five (57%) parents say their children’s physical activity levels are likely to suffer a seasonal dip during autumn and winter, with cold or wet weather (60%) and darker evenings (41%) highlighted as the key barriers in new research findings.

To tackle inactivity and help families keep children moving all year-round, the Government has launched ‘Let’s Move!’, a new campaign supported by Sport England that aims to help parents discover simple, fun, and pressure-free ways to build movement into daily life – which can start with just 10 minutes of activity.

NHS guidance recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day – including 30 minutes outside of school hours. Yet the new survey reveals that 81% of parents underestimate how much physical activity children need. Already, more than half of children in England aren’t getting the recommended amount of movement and, worryingly, the research shows this will increase during the colder months.

Supported by Joe Wicks, the ‘Let’s Move!’ campaign makes staying active easy and affordable, offering ideas from kitchen discos to local activities and playground fun. It encourages families to move together – 80% of parents believe their habits influence their child’s activity levels – and highlights how everyday routines can support healthy, active lifestyles.

Regular movement boosts mood, focus, and family connections, with 78% of parents agreeing that their child is happier after being active, has more energy (71%) and has better concentration (68%).

The campaign is part of the Government’s wider effort to break down barriers to physical activity for people all over the country. Already, more than £900 million has been committed to build grassroots facilities in the places that need them most and deliver a pipeline of major sports events that inspire the nation. Alongside this, the new School Sport Partnerships and

Enrichment Framework will ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. Sport England evidence shows that improved health from participation in sport and physical activity relieves pressure on the NHS through £10.5 billion a year in health and social care savings.

Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock said: “Building a more active nation is a huge part of this Government’s Plan for Change and we want to show families all over the country just how many ways there are to get involved.

“Whether it’s dancing, playing team sport or playing in the playground with their friends, we know that children who get at least an hour of exercise a day experience so many benefits – they’re happier, healthier and focus better at school.

“I am determined that every child, whatever their circumstances, should have those opportunities.”

While just over half (52%) of parents say their children really enjoy traditional forms of sport, others face barriers such as low confidence (31%) or a dislike of competitiveness (30%). However, 94% of parents say their children enjoy physical play as a form of movement – with top activities including visiting the playground (56%), riding a bike (46%), dancing (44%) and playing tag or chase (43%).

‘Let’s Move!’ aims to support different ways for children to enjoy being active – from sport to play and everyday movement. The campaign features real families from local areas having fun getting active together in ways which suit them, such as dancing or playing in the playground. Their images are featured in out-of-home and social channels in the local areas to inspire others to visit nhs.uk/LetsMove for tips, local activities and inspiration.

Parents and TV personalities Alex and Olivia Bowen launched the campaign in Essex alongside inspiring local families, demonstrating that movement really can be for everyone. Olympic champions Beth Tweddle and Max Whitlock led activities at the event, including dance challenges to obstacle courses, as families shared how they’ve been inspired to get active this winter.

Public Health Minister Ashley Dalton said: “Every child deserves the chance to be active, healthy and happy – but right now, too many are missing out on the 60 minutes of daily exercise their bodies need.

“’Let’s Move!’ is about showing families that physical activity doesn’t have to mean expensive gym memberships or organised sports. A kitchen disco, a walk to the park, or ten minutes of silly dancing – it all counts, and it all makes a real difference to children’s health, happiness and development. This builds on the work we have already done with Joe Wicks and his Activate animated series, inspiring children to move more.

“This campaign is part of our Plan for Change to build an NHS fit for the future by helping families make movement a natural, joyful part of everyday life.”

Joe Wicks, who got the nation moving during ‘PE With Joe’, is backing the campaign following the success of his animated workout series Activate, which was supported by a cross-section of government departments including DCMS, DfE and DHSC.

The series aims to make fitness fun for kids with short five-minute animated workouts. He shares new top tips as part of the ‘Let’s Move!’ campaign to help families slot activity into their everyday life, including being a role model, exploring local activities and getting outside whatever the weather.

Joe Wicks said: “As a dad, I know how hard it can be to keep kids moving – especially in the winter when it’s getting cold and dark.

“The idea of 60 minutes of movement a day for kids can sound like a lot, especially for kids who don’t feel confident doing traditional sports – but it doesn’t have to be all at once. It can start with something simple – a quick dance in the kitchen, a run or a brisk walk to the park, or an episode or two of Activate!

“It all adds up and gives kids an amazing mood boost – the key is making it fun.

“Let’s Move is about helping families find those little moments together – whether it’s discovering something local, or just getting active at home. It’s not about perfection, it’s about showing kids that moving isn’t a chore, it’s play. And when it’s playful, they’re way more likely to want to do it again, and again.”

‘Let’s Move!’ is being piloted in targeted areas of Sandwell, Lancashire, Essex and Bradford where inactivity levels and inequalities are greater than other parts of the country. These areas all receive funding from Sport England via their place partnership programme, to ensure those in greatest need can be active. The campaign supports the Government’s Health Mission, which prioritises preventative health measures, including addressing physical inactivity.

Sport England data also shows significant inequalities remain in activity levels, with Black (42%) and Asian (43%) children and young people, and those from the least affluent families (45%), still less likely to play sport or be physically active than the average across all ethnicities and affluence groups.

Find simple ideas to get active together at www.nhs.uk/letsmove.

Young people share creative perspectives on life’s in-between spaces in new Edinburgh exhibition

LIMINAL: OUT OF THE DRILL HALL until 6 NOVEMBER – FREE EXHIBITION

Liminal, a new exhibition showcasing artwork created by young people who are treated at the city’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, is open for one week in Edinburgh.

Running until Thursday 6 November, the exhibition has been developed through a collaboration between the Mental Health Foundation, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC), and artist Louise Fraser, as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. Liminal explores the emotional and physical “in-between” spaces that young people often navigate between childhood and adulthood, wellness and illness, comfort and unease.

The exhibition features imaginative and deeply personal work created by young people who have spent time in hospital settings. They participated in a series of workshops to create their artwork and co-produce the exhibition.

Through drawing, painting, and mixed media, they reflect on identity, transition, and the complexity of growing up while managing health challenges.

Poppy Porteous, age 13 from Linlithgow, is one of the young artists whose work is on display.  She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease when she was 7 years old and has been attending medical appointments at the hospital since. 

Poppy said: “Living with a long-term health condition can be scary and frustrating sometimes, so doing art like this really helped me feel better. I got involved in the Liminal project after taking part in a teddy photography activity through the hospital and ECHC.

“I loved being part of Liminal. It was so much fun and everyone was really kind. My artwork shows the creative and messy side of me, especially the wooden block paintings. It felt great to be allowed to try everything and I love seeing my artwork on display”.

Ilayda Balkan, age 15 from Edinburgh, was diagnosed with Polyarthritic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)in April 2024. Her rheumatology nurse at the hospital introduced her to the arts project.

Ilayda said: “My nurse told me about the Liminal project before she retired, it felt like a gift she left me. Taking part was a lovely experience. I met kind, creative people and felt a real sense of empathy, even though we didn’t know each other’s stories.

“The project gave me space to express myself freely, and my artwork reflects that – especially my sunset paintings, which remind me of my family’s home in Turkey. Living with a long-term health condition can be really tough, but projects like this show that your illness doesn’t define you. It’s your kindness and strength that truly shine.”

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, led by the Mental Health Foundation, is one of Scotland’s most diverse cultural festivals, and the biggest festival of its kind in the world. It celebrates and encourages using the arts to explore mental health, challenge stigma, and promote wellbeing.

MHF_SMHAF25_Brochure_A5Download

Gill Means, Project Manager at Mental Health Foundation said: “Liminal has been a powerful and moving project to be part of.

“The young people involved have shared their experiences with honesty, creativity and courage, and their artwork speaks volumes about what it means to live with a long-term health condition.

“This exhibition is a celebration of their voices, their imagination, and the strength they’ve shown in expressing themselves through art.”

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) works to transform the hospital experience for children and young people by supporting their health and wellbeing through creativity, play and connection.

Creative projects offer a vital outlet for imagination and emotional resilience and help make hospital a place where children can still be children.

ECHC works in partnership with NHS Lothian to help seriously ill children and their families have a positive hospital experience.

Tonya McMullan, Arts Officer at ECHC, said: “We see firsthand, every day, how creativity gives children in hospital a way to express themselves, have fun and just be children again.

“Art can help them cope with tough days and give them some choice and control at a time when they have very little. “We’re so inspired by all the young people who took part in Liminal. Their artwork is powerful, moving and so inspiring.”

Liminal is on display at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh EH6 8RG until Thursday 6 November 2025.  The gallery is open daily, 10am–5pm

For more information, visit www.mhfestival.com

Holyrood committee: Very difficult to assess the effectiveness of mental health spending in Scotland’s NHS

HOLYROOD’s Health Social Care and Sport Committee has said it is disappointed by an ongoing lack of transparency in data gathering and analysis, which makes it very difficult to assess the effectiveness, or otherwise, of the Scottish Government’s approach to mental health spending.

The findings are part of the Committee’s Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27, which this year focused on mental health spending. Spending on mental health services now stands at around £1.5 billion and has risen in recent years.

The Committee acknowledge there is general support for the priorities set out in the Scottish Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and accompanying Delivery Plan, but regrets that it remains very difficult to identify links between those priorities and how mental health budgets are spent.

It calls on the Scottish Government to provide additional data to illustrate how and to what extent mental health budgets can be linked back to the priorities identified.

The Committee is calling on the Scottish Government to provide data on actual spend on mental health services to allow for better evaluation and to help inform spending decisions.

While acknowledging the current landscape is complicated, even more so as a result of the integration of health and social care, the Committee say the Government must do more to provide detailed analysis of current spending to inform current and future policy.

Clare Haughey MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said: “Our pre-budget scrutiny this year has been focused on the Scottish Government’s spending on mental health but what we have found is that issues of transparency, data availability and analysis has limited our ability to effectively scrutinise policy and funding.

“More importantly, this limits the Government’s ability to understand the effectiveness of funding for mental health services and where spending could be better targeted to improve outcomes.

“We’re calling for more transparency, and better data and analysis to improve evaluation and to better inform spending priorities.

“Better data capture and analysis could also help inform preventative approaches to mental health funding and highlight areas where ring-fenced funding could be effective. We look forward to the Scottish Government responding to our report.”

The reported negative impact of a lack of long or even medium-term certainty around budgets is also highlighted and the Committee is seeking reassurance from the Scottish Government that the Spending Review can provide a degree of long-term certainty for services and the third sector.

Health and social care is the largest portfolio area in the Scottish Government’s budget, accounting for over £21 billion of spend, equivalent to around a third of the entire Scottish budget. Within this total, spending on mental health services now stands at around £1.5 billion and has risen in recent years.

Improving health through prevention

Funding digital type 2 diabetes programmes

A new Scottish Government programme is expected to prevent up to 4,000 people from developing type 2 diabetes.

The £4.8 million investment will offer education and virtual, app-based, individual consultations with nutritionists, dietitians and health coaches via the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) initiative to fast track proven healthcare innovations.

By focusing on prevention, this will reduce future health complications for patients, improve quality of life and ease long-term pressures on the NHS.

Health professionals in primary or secondary care will refer suitable patients soon after diagnosis of pre-diabetes or history of gestational diabetes – increasing equity of access to NHS services across Scotland – and self-referral will also be available.

Meeting frontline staff and patients at Pennywell All Care Centre in Edinburgh, Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “We want to improve access to treatment in the community, enhance preventative services and maximise the opportunities of digital innovation through our Service Renewal and Population Health Frameworks. This will deliver a sustainable and high quality health and social care system for the future.

“This digital programme reduces the need to travel to in-person appointments and helps patients make sustainable changes to their diet and lifestyle and prevent progress towards type 2 diabetes. It enables rural and urban communities to easily access services which can have a life-changing impact.

“It is a prime example of transformative innovation that benefits frontline staff and patients alike and supports our health and care service to meet the challenges it faces.”

The three-year programme will enable up to 15,000 people at risk of type 2 diabetes to access nine months of digital diet and lifestyle change advice through ANIA – with up to 4,000 of those expected to avoid the condition.

Director of Innovation and Transformation at NHS Lothian Jenny Long said: “Over the past five years, NHS Lothian’s dietetic service has successfully delivered both the diabetes remission and award-winning prevention programmes, supported by permanent Scottish Government funding.

!Their success has led to further investment in digital innovation via the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway.

“New digital services will improve patient access and outcomes across the region, enabling direct referrals from primary care and reducing waiting times.”

The ANIA Pathway, funded by the Chief Scientist Office and led by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, is designed to fast-track proven innovations into frontline healthcare across Scotland. By identifying, assessing, and implementing new health technologies with strong evidence and impact, ANIA ensures patients across Scotland benefit from the latest advances in care.

Head of Innovation at the Centre for Sustainable Delivery Jason White said: “This programme represents a major step forward in the delivery of preventative healthcare across Scotland.

“It will empower people with pre-diabetes via easily accessible technology to make meaningful lifestyle changes that will significantly reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“The Centre for Sustainable Delivery is proud to support this initiative through the ANIA programme. It’s a scalable, evidence-based solution that will support people to improve their own health and wellbeing over nine months.

“It will improve patient outcomes and reduce demand on NHS services through reducing the growth of type 2 diabetes across Scotland.”

There are 310,000 people living with type 2 diabetes in Scotland, representing more than 5% of the population. In 2023, more than 25,000 new cases were diagnosed and the number is predicted to reach 420,000 by 2044.

Type 2 diabetes | NHS inform

Health Information Integrity Strategy

Focus on using trusted and accurate sources

People should use trustworthy sources of information to make the best possible decisions about health, Health Secretary Neil Gray has said.

In response to the growing volume of false information, and a recommendation from the pandemic advisory group, the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness, the Scottish Government has launched a Scottish Health Information Integrity Strategy.

Mr Gray said it would help the NHS counter false and misleading health information by giving healthcare professionals the tools to enable people to make the best possible choices about their own health.

He said: “There is lot of health information at our fingertips, but often it is not in line with the science and evidence produced by international experts. Some of it is misleading, inaccurate, and sometimes just plain false. This strategy will help the Scottish Government and our health partners respond to the growing threat from such poor-quality information.

“For all of us, understanding our health and options is vital, as the wrong information can lead us to make the wrong choices that can harm us or our loved ones. The Scottish Health Information Integrity Strategy will guide our response to these challenges and help retain public trust in the NHS.

“For any health questions, in the first instance, people should go to Scotland’s national health information service NHS Inform, which provides evidence-based and accurate health information.”

University of Edinburgh Chair in Public Health, and Scottish Government Chief Social Policy Adviser Professor Linda Bauld said: “People are seeking information about their health in new ways, and often from platforms which are not accurate.

“This strategy marks the beginning of the Scottish healthcare system’s response. It describes potential first steps to help NHS Scotland and others build and maintain trust and find the best ways of providing people with information.”

The strategy makes a number of recommendations on developing leadership and co-ordination, and rapidly responding and building resilience to false health information. These include:

  • providing dedicated resources
  • participating in UK and international networks
  • supporting staff to have evidence-based conversations with patients
  • supporting embedding media, digital and health literacy into the Curriculum for Excellence
  • engaging with community partners and third-sector organisations on public health messaging.

Scottish Health Information Strategy

Reduction in Scotland’s NHS waiting lists

New figures show NHS waiting lists in Scotland have fallen and waits of more than a year have reduced for the fourth month in a row.

When compared with August 2025, September saw a 7.3% decrease in new outpatient waits longer than a year – this number has now fallen for four consecutive months. The total waiting list for outpatients has decreased by 2.0% on the same month last year, and the inpatient and daycase waiting list has fallen by 0.2% over the same period.

Treatment Time Guarantee waits of over a year have decreased by 5.9% when compared to last month. These waits have been dropping since February 2025 and are now lower than at the same point last year. Reductions are seen under both 2012 and 2023 waiting times guidance.

The latest figures show that activity has increased, with the number of new outpatient attendances for September increasing by 10,136 (9.5%) to 116,776 attendances when compared with August. There has also been an increase of more than 31,000 appointments and procedures from April to September compared to same period in 2024.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “These new figures show our plan is working and delivering for the people of Scotland – we have provided more than £110 million of additional targeted funding this year to tackle the longest waits and we are now seeing the tangible impact of our significant investment.

“We are not only seeing the total list size and longest waits come down, but we are also treating more people with activity increasing significantly compared to last month and last year. My thanks to all teams across the country who are working so hard to drive these improvements.

“Despite this progress, we know that many people are still facing unacceptable waits and we are determined to build on these improvements and ensure people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.”

RIE Maternity staff ‘Overwhelmed, unsupported and not listened to’

Healthcare Improvement Scotland: Inspection report Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian

Healthcare Improvement Scotland today (Wednesday 29 October) published a report relating to a Maternity Services Safe Delivery of Care inspection visit to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian. 

We carried out the unannounced inspection of maternity services at the hospital on 23-24 June 2025.   

Speaking of the report, Donna Maclean, Chief Inspector, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “During our inspection of the maternity services we saw staff working hard to provide compassionate and responsive care in very challenging circumstances.  All interactions observed during inspection between women, babies and families were positive and respectful.

“We saw good teamwork and innovation within the maternity triage department involving extended members of the multidisciplinary team including obstetricians, midwives and the healthcare support team.

“However, during the course of this inspection, we escalated serious concerns within NHS Lothian to senior staff and Scottish Government. These concerns related to culture, oversight of patient safety and staff wellbeing within Edinburgh Royal Infirmary maternity services.

“Some staff were complimentary and described their line manager as supportive. However, the majority of the multidisciplinary team we spoke with were frustrated at staffing levels and told us this presented a safety risk, which they’d raised on multiple occasions with managers.

“They shared their concerns and feelings of being overwhelmed, unsupported and not listened to. They said this has impacted staff confidence to escalate staffing concerns.

“During the inspection we observed delays to the induction of labour process of up to 29 hours and other delays to women who required ongoing care within the labour ward due to lack of staff availability, capacity and the complexities of patient conditions.

“Staff described suboptimal skill mix and challenges in providing and maintaining one to one care for women within the labour ward, as well as delays to observations or escalation of clinical concerns.

“Our inspection has highlighted gaps in incident reporting and a reluctance to submit incident reports, with staff describing a culture of mistrust. These are concerning issues that may have significant impact on the learning from adverse events in the system and reduce opportunities to improve safety.

“Women told us of mixed experiences within the hospital, whilst some were complimentary of their care, they also informed inspectors of poor communication that left them feeling uninformed and with no ‘voice’ in their care.”

Other areas for improvement identified included fire safety requirements, safe storage of cleaning products and improvements to the environment.

Speaking of our expansion of Safe Delivery of Care inspections into maternity services, Eddie Docherty, Director of Quality Assurance and Regulation, said: “In response to Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Neonatal Mortality Review in 2024, we made a commitment to expanding our Safe Delivery of Care inspection approach to include inpatient maternity services.

“The maternity inspections will provide women, and families with an assessment of the quality of care provided by their local maternity service and an independent review of any required improvements.

“Our organisation is also producing a set of standards for maternity services, which will in time support our inspection process for maternity services.”

The maternity services inspection at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh resulted in five areas of good practice, two recommendations and 26 requirements.

An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Lothian to meet the requirements for maternity services.

The full Lothian maternity inspection report is available to view at:

https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/publications/edinburgh-royal-infirmary-safe-delivery-of-care-inspection-october-2025

Pre-empting the report, NHS Lothian issued a statement yesterday:

KEY MESSAGES FOR PATIENTS

You are likely to read or hear some stories in the media this week about maternity services in NHS Lothian.

A new BBC documentary will air on Tuesday and will explore challenges in maternity services across Scotland. It is looking at situations and cases in the bigger units of Glasgow and Edinburgh and is following up on the improvement work that is already underway in NHS Lothian.

Then on Wednesday, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) will publish a report into Women’s Services following two unannounced visits in June.

You might understandably have some questions or concerns about what is going on. It is also to be expected that you may feel more anxious than normal.

We can reassure you that your health, and that of your baby, is our main priority.

If you have any questions at all, please raise them. If your expert midwife can’t answer them, they will be able to find someone else who can help.

A phoneline has also been established to help answer any questions or concerns. It will be manned by our Patient Experience Team with a local contact in Women’s Services for any specific issues.

You can make contact on: Tel 0131 536 3370 (open Mon-Fri, 9am to 2pm) and on email: LOTH.Feedback@nhs.scot

Many of the things to note are:

  • We know these reports will be concerning and we apologise to women, people who use the service, and their families and can reassure them that these issues are being taken extremely seriously. 
  • A major improvement programme began last year and is already underway across women’s services in NHS Lothian.
  • Many of the points we expect to be mentioned in the BBC documentary and many of the findings in the HIS report actually reinforce the work that is already underway and serve to strengthen the improvement plan.
  • The issues are being taken extremely seriously, and we have always been clear that wider ranging matters, such as staffing, recruitment and working culture within the department, will take time to resolve.
  • Significant investment and improvements have already been made, and many new posts have been filled, but there is still more to do to ensure our staff feel supported at work, safe to raise concerns and able to thrive.
  • We are working to enhance patient safety, quality of care and improve working conditions for our teams.
  • The first and ongoing phase of improvement work focussed on patient care. The second phase is focussed on staff working culture, training and environment.
  • As part of the programme, we have improved triage and escalation increased staffing, boosted training, altered placement rotation and created robust patient pathways.
  • The report highlighted some areas of good practice, particularly our maternity triage system which is one of areas already targeted by the ongoing improvement programme.

Wes Streeting hails use of private sector in England’s NHS

STREETING: “WEALTH SHOUDN’T DETERMINE HEALTH”

FASTER CARE FOR THOUSANDS THROUGH NHS USE OF INDEPENDENT SECTOR

  • A total of 6.15 million appointments, tests and operations were delivered by independent providers for NHS patients this year.
  • The almost 500,000 increase on last year is helping to cut waiting times, free up NHS capacity and deliver national renewal through the government’s Plan for Change
  • Patients able to cut waiting times by up to five months by switching to nearby hospital with shorter queues.

Hundreds of thousands of people are receiving faster care thanks to the Labour government’s partnership with the private sector, which is helping provide the treatment they need to get back on their feet – free at the point of use.

More than 6 million tests and operations for NHS patients were delivered by independent healthcare providers over the past year – almost 500,000 more than last year.

Independent healthcare providers delivered an average of 19,000 surgical procedures and 100,000 outpatient appointments every week this financial year – helping to treat more than 1.1 million people

This is all part of the drive to use every resource available to stop patients suffering on the unacceptably long waiting lists this government inherited – which have now fallen by 206,000 over the past year.

Using spare capacity in the private sector is central to the government’s goal that 92% of patients in England should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment – which is fundamental to delivering the renewal this country needs.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I’ll do everything I can to get NHS patients treated faster, free at the point of use.

“This is a principled, progressive position, not just a pragmatic one. We’re not prepared to continue two-tier healthcare, when those who can afford it get treated on time, and those who can’t are left behind. Wealth shouldn’t determine health.

“This is just one reform which has helped deliver 5 million more appointments, grown NHS productivity, and cut waiting lists by 200,000.

“We are also investing in growing the NHS capacity, opening up CDCs and operating theatres at evenings and weekends, and bringing in modern technology like robotic surgery. Through investment and relentless reform, we will make sure every patient is treated on time, not just those who can afford to pay.”

The partnership with the private sector comes alongside the other UK government measures to cut waiting times and expand NHS capacity in England, including:

  • Opening more Community Diagnostic Centres seven days a week, 12 hours a day. They have delivered over 8.7 million diagnostic tests since July 2024, closer to where people live, freeing up hospitals.
  • Opening new 22 new surgical hubs and expanding a further 12.
  • Introducing a national programme of weekend High-Intensity Theatre (HIT) lists once a month in 50 hospitals to get through a week’s worth of planned operations in a day
  • Setting up NHS Online, which will deliver up to 8.5 million appointments in its first three years and allow patients to digitally connect to expert clinicians anywhere in England.

The partnership with the independent sector strengthens the commitment set out in the 10 Year Health Plan to boost patients right to choose where they are treated, with new research showing patients are cutting their wait for an NHS operation by up to five months by switching to a nearby hospital with shorter queues.

Sir Jim Mackey, NHS Chief Executive, said: “The independent sector is playing a vital role in supporting our efforts to bring down waiting lists and ensure patients can get the NHS care they need faster.

“Thanks to the ambition and hard work of NHS teams, we are seeing early signs of progress with waiting lists falling for the first time in years – but we are determined to go further and faster to improve patients’ experiences and this data shows clearly that maximising use of this capacity is an approach that is working for patients.”

Research from the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), alongside the Patients Association and Arthritis UK, found patients need to travel on average just under 13 miles – typically under 30 minutes by car – to cut over two and a half months off their waiting time for treatment.

For particular treatments, patients can cut their wait even further. For example, in the South East, patients requiring general surgery such as a hernia operation could cut their wait from an average of 27 weeks to just 6 weeks – a reduction of almost five months – by travelling from the areas with the longest waiting times to shortest.

David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, said: “These latest figures demonstrate just how important the independent sector is in providing much-needed NHS treatment – delivering around 10% of all NHS elective activity, and a record amount of appointments, tests and scans – all free at the point of use to patients.  

“In committing to better commissioning, patient choice and clear incentives, the recent NHS & Independent Sector Partnership is having real benefits to patients and by sticking to these principles, the Government and the independent sector can continue to drive down NHS waiting lists long into the future.”

Deborah Alsina MBE, Chief Executive of Arthritis UK said: “Thousands of people with arthritis in need of life changing hip and knee replacements are waiting in unnecessary pain.

“We know that the longer people wait, the more impact this has on their lives and causes a further deterioration in their joints which results in more complicated and expensive surgery and too often worse health outcomes.

“Promoting patient choice, including being able to be treated by independent providers, is therefore an important tool which may ensure that people can get faster access to the treatment they so desperately need.”

Sarah Tilsed, Head of Partnerships and Involvement, The Patients Association: “It’s encouraging to see more patients receiving the care they need sooner, with over six million NHS appointments, tests, and operations delivered through the independent sector in the past year.

£Every patient who has their treatment brought forward no longer has their life on pause and is able to take the next step in their care journey.

“As the NHS continues working to reduce the backlog, it’s vital that patients are supported with clear information and real choice about their options. Using all available capacity to deliver care sooner is essential, as long as patients are well informed of their right to choose and feel in control of their care journey.”

  • All figures above relate to the period September 2024 to August 2025
  • Independent healthcare providers deliver NHS care free at the point of use under contract to the NHS
  • 7.6 MILLION people were on NHS England waiting lists last month