The NHS has made big progress in areas s uch as waiting times over the last year, the health secretary has claimed.
John Reid said the government's reforms to modernise the health service had treated more patients, cut waiting times and provided more operations. Government reforms have also led to more operations being carried out in outpatient clinics and GP surgeries, he said.
Reid said the number of NHS patients waiting longer than one year for their operation had fallen to just 114 in September ? a drop of 99.3 per cent. He joined the NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp to unveil the NHS annual report setting out government progress on meeting key public service targets. "These are important findings. The NHS is far from perfect, but these figures show clearly why those who work in it deserve our thanks," he said.
The report compares NHS performance during the last six months with the last three years since publication of the NHS Plan. It revealed that the number of procedures carried out in outpatient clinics rose to 1,735,000 in April this year and in the six months to September had increased by a further 129,000. The number of procedures carried out in GP surgeries rose to 709,000 at the end of March, and in the six months to September had increased by 5,000.
The report also found that the value of drugs prescribed to NHS patients rose to £7.18 billion ? an increase of £2.3 billion since the NHS Plan in 2000.
Ahead of next week's pre-Budget report the health secretary argued that taxpayers were getting value for money following record increases in NHS spending. "I want us to be as clear and transparent as possible about value for money in the NHS," Reid said. "Not only are we getting more doctors, nurses and other professionals in to expand the NHS, but they themselves are working harder to do more operations and cut the hassle factor for patients."
Sir Nigel said the public should look at the wider picture of what the NHS does rather than focusing on the most-used elements. "Too often, people try to judge value for money in the NHS by looking only at acute hospital admissions," he said. "In fact the vast majority of patient care is provided outside hospital settings.
"This year we expect to see more excellent progress. The capacity to treat more patients is growing as more staff are appointed and new services and facilities come on line.
"We are making progress but we are still only three years into a 10-year programme of change. We still have a great deal to do."
But the Conservatives claimed the report only told part of the story. Shadow health secretary Tim Yeo claimed the improvements were minor given the amount of money poured into the NHS. "Spending is up 37.5 per cent but activity in hospitals is only up five per cent," he said. "Although the government claims that fewer people are waiting very long periods of time, patients overall are actually waiting longer.
"The mean waiting time is now 99 days ? nine days longer than four years ago. As a nation we are relying on short term, stopgap solutions in a bid for good headlines not long term solutions leading to sustainable recruitment."
