Home / Health / NHS Reform Echoes HS2 Failures, Risks Waiting List Pledge
NHS Reform Echoes HS2 Failures, Risks Waiting List Pledge
19 Nov
Summary
- MPs warn NHS reform plans risk missing waiting list targets.
- Government reform practices likened to HS2 and New Hospitals.
- Thousands of staff redundancies proceed with unclear funding.
Public Accounts Committee MPs have issued a stark warning that key pledges to reduce NHS waiting lists are at serious risk of failure. They described current government reform initiatives as mirroring "poor practices seen on HS2," highlighting that past spending on diagnostics and surgical services has not yielded sufficient improvements.
The committee expressed significant concern over the planned absorption of NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care and reductions in local health management teams. This structural overhaul, along with a 50% cut to administrative staff and managers, is proceeding without clear delivery plans or secured additional funding, raising fears of wasted effort and negative patient impacts.
Despite a government claim that waiting lists are falling due to record investment and modernization, MPs remain unconvinced about the realism of reducing elective care backlogs. They caution against viewing digital solutions as a panacea and worry that large, unfunded commitments, like those seen with HS2, could undermine patient care and future planning.
