Patients in England could reduce their wait for care by months through choosing a different provider for their NHS treatment, according to the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN).
Its analysis of NHS wait times found that across England patients needed to travel 12 miles to cut three months off their waiting time, but there were significant variations around the country and by specialty.
In the North West, a patient waiting for treatment in a hospital with a long average waiting time for the region would only need to travel 8.5 miles to a hospital with lower waiting times and see their average waiting time go from 21 weeks down to below seven weeks – a saving of more than 14 weeks, the IHPN said.
Local variations
The analysis also uncovered significant variations in waiting times for different patient treatments across regions.
One of the largest disparities was for ear, nose and throat patients in the South East who could wait almost 36 weeks on average in the bottom third of providers or just under seven weeks at the top third – a disparity of seven months.
Patients needing trauma and orthopaedics treatment in the South West waited on average 23 weeks in the bottom third of providers, but just over nine weeks in the top third – a disparity of three and a half months.
Similarly in the South East, this was 19 weeks compared to just under seven weeks – a three-month difference.
Waits for urology care in the North West varied from more than 24 weeks to a little more than seven weeks – a range of almost 17 weeks.
For ophthalmic care in the East of England times ranged from 17 weeks just over three weeks and for gynaecology in the North West the span varied from 23.5 weeks to just less than 11 weeks – a range of ovmore than 12 weeks.
Happy to travel
According to polling from Savanta for the IHPN, almost three quarters (73%) of the public believed they should have a right to choose where they received their NHS treatment.
Over seven in 10 people (71%) said they would be happy to travel more than 30 minutes outside of their local area to get treatment more quickly. Just 5% of people said they would not travel outside their local area to get quicker treatment from the NHS.
For patients travelling outside their area for treatment, their travel and accommodation costs can be covered by the NHS.
NHS patients can choose to receive their treatment in an private provider and data in the report showed that 96% of people in England lived within a 30 minute drive of an private care, with people living in the most deprived areas of England just as likely to live near an independent provider as the general population.
Too few aware of right to choose
David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said: “These new figures show just how much quicker patients can be treated when they are given a choice over where they receive their NHS care.
“This right to choose has been in place since the last Labour government was in office but too few people are aware that the power is in their hands when choosing a healthcare provider.
“With NHS waiting lists still unacceptably high, the new government must do more ensure the public are fully aware of the wide range of healthcare providers – both NHS and private – where they can receive treatment in their local area, free at the point of use.
“This will not only help patients access the quickest possible NHS treatment and lead happier, healthier lives, but also help cut the record high NHS backlog.”
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, added: “Patients support the right to choose where they receive their NHS treatment and seven out of 10 are willing to travel outside their local area to be treated.
“We’d like to see health professionals letting patients know they can choose where they have their care and supporting them to make a choice that is best for that patient.
“With so many millions of patients waiting for care, we believe patients exercising choice leads to better outcomes for themselves and can play a role in reducing health inequalities and rising levels of long-term health problems.“