RCGP responds to Health Foundation's analysis of NHS waiting times

In response to new analysis from the Health Foundation that suggests that, if recent trends continue, the NHS will fall a long way short of meeting its pledge to reduce NHS waiting times, Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, President of the Royal College of GPs, said:

"Bringing down NHS waiting lists benefits everyone across the health service. Long waits for specialist care can have a real impact on patients' health and wellbeing and place additional pressure on general practice as GPs and our teams care for patients while they are waiting to be seen, often without access to information about when their appointment or treatment will progress.

"However, the number of GP referrals alone tells us little about whether patients are being referred appropriately. Referral numbers can reflect changing clinical need, as well as how effectively patients are able to move between general practice and specialist care. What matters is the quality and clinical appropriateness of referrals, and whether patients are able to move through the NHS without unnecessary delays or duplication. GPs use their clinical judgement to refer patients to specialist services when it is the right next step for their care, and efforts to reduce waiting lists must not create pressure to delay or avoid necessary referrals.

"GPs and our teams make the vast majority of patient contacts in the NHS and manage the vast majority of patients without the need for referral to specialist services. If we are going to bring waiting times down sustainably, there needs to be enough capacity across the NHS, including in general practice and specialist services. Any efforts to manage demand must always be clinically led and ensure patients who need specialist care can access it in a timely way."

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.