Hospital to get more funding to cut waiting lists

1 hour ago

Laura Devlinin Norfolk

News image — Lesley Dwyer said seeing patients quickly was "not about chasing numbers"

Qays Najm A head and shoulders image of a woman with short dark blonde hair. She is smiling at the camera and is wearing a black jumper with a white shirt underneath and black earrings. — Lesley Dwyer said seeing patients quickly was "not about chasing numbers"

The boss of three hospitals said their failure to hit waiting list targets would be tackled with extra funding from the NHS.

Patients at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), the James Paget University Hospital (JPH) in Gorleston-on Sea, Norfolk, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn, were not being seen within 18 weeks.

While the NNUH improved last year, both the JPH and QEH saw fewer patients within the time frame than in 2024.

"No matter how hard I am asking people to work and what we are doing... we are just playing catch up all the time," said Lesley Dwyer, the chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.

An NHS-wide initiative, called Sprint, will help get waiting lists to "where they want them to be", she added.

"We are being given some additional funding to be able to put on some additional lists, and pay our staff to do some additional time with us, to make sure these lists are done," she told BBC Radio Norfolk's Chris Goreham.

"It's not just about surgery, it's about people getting seen much faster than what we're currently doing.

"We've got quite a journey to make sure we are providing care in the time frames that our community expect but actually, clinically, that we know is best for them.

"It's not about chasing a number; we know when people are assessed as needing surgery, they actually need to have it," Dwyer said.

Getty Images Surgeons in green scrubs, blue hairnets, clinical gloves and green face masks operate on an unseen patient — Nationally, NHS waiting lists went down in November, after months of rises

Dwyer agreed targets were difficult, with the JPH falling behind having experienced "additional pressure with A&E".

Up to November last year, 52% of JPH patients waited less then 18 weeks, compared with 55.1% in 2024, with the hospital's target at least 60% - the same as NNUH.

NNUH saw 52% of patients in 2024 within 18 weeks and 55% last year.

The entrance to the James Paget's emergency department. It is a two-storey tall building. — As with the QEH, the James Paget was built with Raac that has started to crumble

In King's Lynn, the 18-week target was met in 55% of patients - down from 57% - against a target of 62%.

Dwyer said the QEH had become "infamous" for the amount of props being used to support the buildings constructed with Raac, with the trust given a further blow in September when it was ranked one of the worst in the country.

"The rankings cover a range of things, but where it refers to A&E we have seen improvement, and we can see where they've had improvement around elective surgery," she added.

"But it is a hospital that is under enormous pressure with a lot of challenges, and so this is where we've been able to ask the NNUH to be able to step in and support some of their clinical governance and care.

"The QE has done the most outstanding remedial work to make sure the refurbishments are happening as quickly as they can be, and therefore the care is being delivered in better areas than where they have been."