Four-plus pathway patients account for 700k of waiting list

New data suggests around 700,000 cases on the elective waiting list relate to patients who are on at least four different pathways, and NHS England says personalised care plans must be developed to treat them more efficiently.

NHSE has published new data that reveals the overall referral to treatment waiting list, of 7.8 million cases, is made up of 6.5 million individual patients. The difference is due to some patients waiting for more than one treatment.

Stella Vig, NHSE’s clinical director for secondary care, told HSJ around 2-3% of the individual patients on the waiting list are on four to five pathways or more.

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Source: HSJ, 9 November 2023