IHPN calls for greater role for independent sector in cutting NHS community waiting times

With NHS community health services facing years of under-investment and entrenched waiting times, a new report from the independent healthcare sector calls for providers to be brought in urgently to help patients access timely care.

The latest official figures show that NHS community waiting lists have increased by 23% since 2022, and with the establishment of a new target for 80% of community patients to receive treatment within 18 weeks, the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) are calling for a greater role for the independent sector in bringing new capacity and expertise to NHS community healthcare.  

NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are currently working on their plans to commission Neighbourhood Health Providers, and IHPN are urgently calling on ICBs to fully engage with the sector and consider how they can encourage service innovation and contracts based on outcomes in order to make the best use of the capability and capacity at-scale providers can offer. IHPN also want to see them work with the sector in the development of minimum standards for community services to help drive improvements in service provision and patient outcomes.

With the Government’s 10 Year Plan for Health making clear the need to shift more patient care into community settings, IHPN’s new report demonstrates that independent providers who deliver community care “at scale” have a vital contribution to make in bringing much needed capacity and capability to local communities and achieve the NHS’ vision for “neighbourhood health” including:

• Their national footprint – with some providers delivering care covering around 10% of the population nationally – enabling them to use data and insight to understand and apply “what works” in pathway design across multiple contracts and areas
• The ability to invest in new and improved services, with access to private capital that public providers simply don’t have in the current fiscal climate
• Centralised back-office functions, systems, processes, and skills which provide greater resilience and efficiency which would be impossible for smaller local providers to achieve

Danielle Henry, Director of Policy at IHPN, said:

“We cannot fix the NHS by focusing solely on elective care while community services remain in a blind spot — that approach is counter-productive and not in patients’ interests.

“With NHS community services under huge strain and patients waiting far too long for much-needed care and support, significant capacity and resources will need to be brought in to bolster this most pivotal part of the health service.

“Independent healthcare providers are already using their size and reach to deliver precisely the kind of accessible high-quality care to NHS patients that new Neighbourhood Health Services are seeking to achieve. 

“If the Government genuinely wants to shift care out of hospitals and into the community, it must turbocharge NHS and independent sector partnership working – helping incentivise at-scale working and drive innovation in every community.”