Elective care reform plan unveiled: CCA backs expansion of pharmacy-based ENT services

The Labour government published its elective care reform plan today (6 January), outlining the necessary steps to reduce patient waiting times, including expanding non-surgical ENT [ear, nose and throat] services in community pharmacies. As set out in its ‘Plan for Change’, the government aims to restore the constitutional standard of 92 per cent of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks by March 2029. Additionally, it plans to address the ongoing challenges in meeting cancer waiting time standards. Health secretary Wes Streeting emphasised the urgency of reform, highlighting that over 6 million people are currently on a waiting list, waiting for more than 7 million episodes of care, like a test or an operation. Streeting said: “For those millions of people, the fundamental promise of our NHS – that it will be there for us when we need it – has not been delivered. This can’t go on.” “The actions in this plan will reform elective care, giving patients timely local access to diagnostic testing, with straight to test pathways and action to reform outpatient care,