CPOC response to Health and Social Care Committee’s report

Yesterday the Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee published the report of its Expert Panel inquiry into the health and care workforce. The report highlights the unprecedented NHS backlog and the failure of the Government to meet its healthcare commitments.

In order to get waiting lists down, the Government needs to do two key things: address staffing shortages and help embed better ways of working.

We were very glad to see that the report referenced perioperative care and how prehabilitation programmes can reduce post-operative (after surgery) complications by 30–80% and reduce the length of stay after surgery by 1–2 days.

Commitments to perioperative care were made in the elective recovery plan and it is now vital that the Government implements them.

Dr David Selwyn, Director of CPOC said:

“The health service is facing record waiting lists. It needs more staff, and it needs to work smarter. Too many patients waiting for surgery face additional health issues that often go unaddressed – such as diabetes, anaemia, obesity, smoking, or problem alcohol use. If we transformed waiting lists into preparation lists and gave patients the support they need to improve their health, we could avoid so many cancellations and unnecessary surgical complications. This would free up staff time, reduce waiting lists, save the NHS money, and improve patient outcomes.”