Wera Hobhouse

Across Bath, people wait far too long for the NHS care that they urgently need. There are proven ways to bring down waiting times and boost NHS capacity, but they are not always used to their full potential. I recently visited Bath Clinic, an independent sector provider with the infrastructure, staff and capacity to deliver high-quality secondary acute care. Bath Clinic ringfences slots for NHS patients. If the slots are not filled, they simply sit empty. Valuable appointments are wasted while my constituents in Bath linger on waiting lists without any good explanation. I understand that, across England, ICBs are planning to commission between 5% and 20% less activity from private hospitals this year, while the latest data—from March—shows that NHS waiting lists are getting longer. The longer patients wait, the more complex and costly their care becomes. Using independent sector capacity in the limited way that I have described gets people the treatment that they need when they need it, and helps them to return to work and to their lives. Everyone suffers when those slots are not used. This is not a criticism of the NHS or its dedicated staff. It is a call to make full use of every available resource to support them. The independent sector is not a replacement, but the capacity is there and it could make a real difference. This is also an issue of choice. The NHS constitution enshrines patient choice, so there is no excuse for not offering it. I have one question for the Minister: can she help me to understand why independent sector healthcare providers are not being used? Services such as Bath Clinic are ready to help and they have capacity that otherwise will simply go to waste.