Poverty and clinical need both key when prioritising patients for treatment says NHSE lead

Factors like deprivation should be considered in prioritising waiting lists, NHS England’s inequalities director has said, but in a ‘very sophisticated, thoughtful way’ alongside clinical need and waiting times.

NHSE said in summer 2020 the service would “restore services inclusively”, and some systems and trusts have developed tools they say could allow them to consider factors such as deprivation, race, employment, and lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking.

But the issue has been controversial. Research for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, which has developed a new prioritisation system, found many members of the public are opposed to taking these factors into account.

NHSE standard contract guidance for 2023-24, seemingly cautioning against such moves, said: “[The Department of Health and Social Care] asked us to make clear that providers are ‘recommended to prioritise waiting lists according to clinical need and then in chronological order from the longest waiting patient.’” 

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Source: HSJ, 18 May 2023