Patients will be able to book more tests and scans after work and at weekends as part of plans to free up millions of medical appointments and slash waiting lists for elective treatment.
The elective reform plan, to be published by NHS England and set out by the Prime Minister on Monday, is part of a drive to deliver two million extra appointments by the end of next year.
Labour’s “plan for change” pledges that by July 2029, 92% of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for pre-planned care such as hip and knee replacements.
Community diagnostic centres will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever possible and will offer a wider range of tests.
The Government says 65% of patients will receive planned treatment in the target timeframe by the end of next year.
But Sir Keir Starmer was urged to go further and tackle how long people are waiting for GP appointments, emergency care and other services.
The health sector warned that GPs and hospitals need funding to recruit and retrain doctors and deal with staffing shortages.
The Prime Minister said: “NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear. Lives on hold. Potential unfulfilled.
“This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.”
Up to half a million more appointments a year are expected to be made available by extending opening hours at community diagnostic centres and through the creation of 14 new surgical hubs and the expansion of three by June.
Giving patients the choice to forego follow-up appointments currently booked by default could free up to a million appointments.
Wearable tech will be used more widely to collect health data to reduce appointments that are routine rather than because of a clinical need.
AI that predicts which appointments are most likely to be missed will also be used to stop slots being wasted.
The fastest NHS trusts to cut waiting times will be rewarded with more funding for local projects such as investment in new diagnostic equipment or hospital ward maintenance.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the target to cut maximum wait times from 18 months to 18 weeks would be achieved by “bringing care closer to home and give patients more choice over their treatment”.
“The NHS should work around patients’ lives, not the other way around. By opening community diagnostic centres on high streets 12 hours a day, seven days a week, patients will now be able to arrange their tests and scans for when they go to do their weekend shopping, rather than being forced to take time out of work,” he said.
There were 165 community diagnostic centres across England in August, based at sites such as shopping centres, university campuses and football stadiums.
By making their opening hours longer, the Government hopes people will be treated more quickly and conveniently in their neighbourhoods rather than having to rely on hospitals.
Patients will also be able use the NHS app to choose from providers and the Government will publish a set of minimum standards for elective care to improve patients’ experience and identify poor performance.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund think tank, welcomed the planned boost to community diagnostic centres given the backlog for tests and scans in England.
But she warned that the 18-week referral-to-treatment target should not be taken as the “sole measure” of how the NHS is faring.
“Equally important to people is how long they are waiting for a GP appointment or an ambulance, for mental health care, and other services,” she said.
She added that “deliverability” hinges on Government decisions at future spending reviews, and said there will be “difficult decisions about where the health service focuses its finite resources”.
Leaders for the NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services want to work with the Government to tackle all long waits, which stem from underinvestment and severe staff shortages, said Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers’ interim chief executive.
Trusts face “huge operational and financial challenges” every day, especially in busy A&Es and emergency care, and staff continue to “work flat out” for patients, she said.
Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, said the “bold steps” to overhaul how health services are delivered showed ministers are “serious”, but that “without the workforce to meet constantly rising demand, we will not see the progress we all hope for”.
He said: “To make significant and lasting inroads into the existing 7.5 million waiting list backlog, more is needed than relying on the goodwill of exhausted staff or new technology.
“Funding for hospitals and GPs to recruit and retain doctors and the modernising of facilities to utilise their skills efficiently and effectively are priorities to deal with the chronic burnout that has created the current workforce crisis.”
The Liberal Democrats warned that the plan must also tackle crises in emergency care and social care which are spilling over into A&Es.
“The Government risks putting hip replacements over heart attacks unless it brings forward a wider set of measures to improve emergency care, and delivers social care reform at speed, not years from now,” said health and social care spokeswoman Helen Morgan.
The Conservatives said Labour is “building on our foundations” with its plans for diagnostic centres and that the announcement showed the party has “no new ideas of their own for the NHS – despite promising change”.
Shadow health secretary Ed Argar said: “Patients cannot wait for more dither and delay from the Government who promised so much, and so far have delivered so little.”
