'Crack teams' of clinicians to be drafted in to get sick Brits back to work
25 September 2024, 01:33
'Crack teams' of clinicians are set to be drafted in to get sick Brits back to work.
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Teams of leading clinicians will be sent to hospitals to roll out reforms intended to get patients treated and back to work faster.
Parts of the country with the highest number of people out of work due to ill health will receive priority support in a bid to cut NHS waiting lists.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference on Wednesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting will say that the 'crack teams' will start with 20 hospital trusts.
Some 2.8 million people are out of work due to ill-health - 500,000 more than in 2019.
The bill for sickness and disability benefits is forecast to soar by £30 billion in the next five years.
Read more: 'It's important they pay their fair share': Wes Streeting vows to crack down on health tourism
Mr Streeting will say: "Ending the junior doctor strikes was central to our commitment to deliver 40,000 more appointments a week to cut waiting lists.
"But as well as getting staff back to work, we need to get them working at the top of their game.
"We’re sending crack teams of top clinicians to hospitals across the country to roll out reforms - developed by surgeons – to treat more patients, and cut waiting lists.
"The first hospitals targeted by these teams will be in areas with the highest numbers of people off work sick.
"Because our reforms are focused not only on delivering our health mission but also moving the dial on our growth mission.
"We will take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS, get sick Brits back to health and back to work.
"That’s the difference a Labour government makes."
NHS waiting lists currently stand at 7.6 million.
Some 3.1 million have been waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment - the maximum amount of time patients are supposed to wait.
